Return to Jurassic
by Autumn Darkness
Summary: Their boarding school is taking a summer trip to Costa Rica. All the teachers were able to plan part of the trip and one planned an aerial tour of Isla Sorna... Eric is a main character! COMPLETE!
1. Eric Kirby

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the following: Jurassic Park, Eric Kirby, any characters you recognize from Jurassic Park, or anything that has to do with the original story lines created by Michael Crichton.

* * *

**Chapter One-Eric Kirby**

I sighed a soft sigh and gazed out the window. It was my second to last class of the afternoon and you could not deny the boredom of it.

"The Velociraptor was a carnivore. Standing two feet high…" Mr. Polycarp was saying. He was our science teacher and totally enthused with dinosaurs.

I glanced about the room. Of course, the popular girls were passing notes. But since Mr. Polycarp was blind in one eye, he could never tell.

There was one empty seat in the back. Who was the proud owner? Eric Kirby, dinosaur freak and school geek. He had been stranded on Isla something or another last year.

YEAH RIGHT! He claimed to have been there a little over eight weeks. Most unbelievable. I didn't even believe the islands had dinosaurs on them. I mean; it's virtually impossible to clone a dinosaur.

RING!

"All right, see you next year class!" Mr. Polycarp said above the scraping of chairs.

"Did you see Lane Martin's skirt?" Sally Grude whispered to her friends. They were the most popular girls in the tenth grade.

"Oh I know! You can totally tell she pinned it up," Cassy Torch smirked.

"It does not flatter her legs at all!" Kimmy Flort said, looking over at me and laughing.

I looked down at my white uniform skirt and at my slightly over weight legs. It was so hard to stay thin at this school with all the greasy food they served.

The reason why I had pinned up my skirt was my parents wouldn't allow it to be above my knee. Last year, I did a temporary stitch to shorten it, but my mom noticed the crease when I got home.

Oh well; this summer field trip, I was going to be rebellious. I had just bought myself a new white skirt that came two inches above the knee. There was nothing my parents could do … for the trip at least. They would probably make me return it the day I got home. The skirt was as short as the school would allow.

* * *

Candy Saunters opened the office door and slammed a stack of papers on the desk. "Do you have any idea what could happen?" She exclaimed. 

"Oh come on, Candy," the man behind the desk said. "We're just flying over the islands. Nothing could possibly go wrong!"

"What about the flying…"

"They wouldn't attack the plane. It's far too large."

"What if something went wrong? What if…"

"We have received the privilege to plan part of the school trip, Candy. I'm not going to waste this opportunity. Besides, we'll have an expert along with us…"

"But it's illegal!"

"Candy, Candy! Don't you worry your pretty little head about it. Everything will be fine. Now you just turn right around and leave. Let me deal with the paper work."

Candy turned to leave but remembering something, she turned back. "Don't expect me to accompany you then Mr…"

"That will be all. Thank you." The man said. Candy glared down at him and stormed out of the room. "Those poor children," She muttered under her breath.

* * *

I frowned slightly as I looked around the classroom. All the seats but one were taken, and it was next to Eric Kirby, the person no one liked. Sure, he had a great smile and had been popular last year. But this year… I don't know; it was different. 

Eric was lounging in his desk's chair with his arms over his chest. His uniform was perfectly pressed and his hair was short and slicked back with who-knows-how-much-gel.

I sat down and quickly opened my book. I used to have the hugest crush on him but… I don't know.

"Good book?" he asked. Nodding, I turned the page.

"Funny, I never thought you would like reading science **_upside-down_**. I don't know; maybe it's an assignment?"

I immediately slammed the book shut and forced it into my 70 lb. backpack.

"Are you going on the school summer trip this year?" He asked me.

I never got the chance to answer. The teacher came in at that moment. Mrs. Temperton hated people talking when she came in. I quickly wrote a note.

_Eric,_

_Yeah, I'm going. Are you?_

_Lane_

Eric and I had been friends in kindergarten through fifth grade but as soon as middle school came, he was a whole other person. We were still friends though, deep down inside. Notes were our primary conversation.

I looked around the room to make sure no one was looking and slipped the note to Eric. He casually opened it, peered inside, and smiled. He wrote something on the back and handed it to me. Opening it revealed these simple words:

**_Lane,_**

**_Yep, sure am. See you there._**

**_Eric_**


	2. Costa Rica

**Chapter Two- Costa Rica**

My suitcase was jam-packed full of all the clothes I wanted to bring. Skirts that were pinned up, shirts that barely covered my shoulders and midriff, pajamas, jeans … all the things I knew I needed.

"All right, everyone," Mrs. Clueney, the principal, was saying. "Get ready to go to Costa Rica!" Everyone cheered. No middle-schoolers were coming on the trip and only a few ninth graders were. About eleven tenth graders, five eleventh graders, and two twelfth graders were going. I was very amazed at how small our group was. After all, our school did have 2,800 kids attending.

"Now, let's load up and move out!" Mrs. Clueney yelled. Again, the group cheered. We all plowed into the busses.

* * *

Sighing, I readjusted my pillow. We were an hour away from landing and it was five in the morning. I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the whole flight. Looking around, I noticed a woman nursing her baby. Eric was sitting right next to her and pointedly looking out the window. 

I blushed when the woman saw me staring and turned away. Leaning farther into my seat, I closed my eyes. Sleep – at last! – claimed me.

* * *

Ding. 

"All right, everyone. We will be landing in ten minutes. Please turn off any…"Captain Croot's speech was drowned out by Carley Peter Boarding School's cheering. Our long flight to Costa Rica was finally pulling to a close.

The cheering continued until the flight attendants quieted the producers, telling them we wouldn't land without silence. After the loud ruckus, the stillness was almost deafening.

Of course, once we had landed safely on the ground, it started up again. The baby across the way began to cry and didn't stop until she was out of my knowledge. Who knows; maybe she never stopped. We all grabbed our bags and dashed out of the plane as fast as we could. The hot air greeted us as we stepped out into the open and down the stairs.

"**_WELCOME TO COSTA RICA_**!" A man was yelling. The boarding school group headed over to him. "**_I HOPE THAT YOU ALL HAD A NICE_** **_FLIGHT_**?" The cheers must have satisfied him because he began talking again. I looked around the group, ignoring the ramblings of the annoying fat man. Everyone seemed to be standing in groups. There was the popular group, which consisted mostly of Sally, Cassy, and Kimmy. Then, there were other people and their friends, which included my two best friends, Tina and Hannah. Next, there was Eric. He was standing all by himself in the back. Of course he was paying attention. I scoffed and redirected mine in time to hear, "**_AND THAT'S THE END OF MY SPEECH! HAVE FUN_**!"

* * *

The hotel room had two beds. Luckily, Tina, Hannah, and I got the room all to ourselves. None of us had ever been very good at sharing a bathroom but we made an exception. What was that exception? **_COSTA RICA_**! 

I opened the window and gulped in the fresh air. The ocean was perfectly visible: the surf gently sloshing up on the white sand, the people tanning … All seemed peaceful and welcoming.

RING!

I jumped in surprise at the sudden noise protruding from the small hotel phone. I dashed over to it and picked it up. "Hello?"

A voice came over the other end. "Yes, is this Tina, Hannah, or Lane?"

"This is Lane. How may I help you?" I answered back.

"Hello, Lane. This is Mrs. Dorft. I have planned this morning's P.E. schedule. Did you and the other girls get some sleep?"

"Yes we did, Mrs. Dorft. Thank you for asking."

"You're welcome, dear. Please dress in your school uniform and come down to the lobby."

"Yes ma'am. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

I hung up the phone and relayed the details to my companions. We all changed and rushed downstairs. Most of the group was already assembled.

"What do you think we're going to be doing?" Tina asked.

"Maybe we'll go horse back riding or swimming!" Hannah exclaimed.

"I hear we're going to be pulling the hairs out of your head."

The voice startled me. From the looks on the girls' faces, I knew who it was.

"Yes, Eric?" I asked, turning around. I put on my best annoyed face. Of course, this almost made him laugh. I could tell by his eyes.

"You have a comment on a conversation you have no right to be listening to?"

He smiled again and shook his head. "You're too much for me Lane. Guess I better leave you alone before you tear me limb from limb."

"Don't worry, Eric," I said sarcastically. "I wouldn't act like one of your dinosaur friends."

Immediately his smile vanished. He didn't seem to be mad at me, just re-living a moment in history. After about a minute he smiled weakly, nodded at us, and walked away.

"Can you believe that guy? Who does he think he is, talking to us like that?" I heard Tina say behind me.

It all seemed so faint, though. Why had I acted like that with Eric? I mean; I know that he used to act like that to me many times and made me feel bad. So why did it hurt **_me_** so much when I hurt **_him_**?


	3. Archery

**Chapter Three - Archery**

"ARCHERY?" Sally exclaimed. "You want us to do ARCHERY?"

"Oh come on, Sal!" Tina cried. "It will be fun, just watch. Plus, Hannah and Lane agree with me, right guys?" She turned to us and smiled.

"Oh, of course!" Hannah said enthusiastically. Of course I could tell she was acting, as she had never been a good actress.

I nodded and turned to select my bow. There were only a few for lefties but I was able to snag one.

Secretly, I agreed with Sally. How could we be doing archery? It was one of the dumbest sports around! You'd think they could pick something actually entertaining.

After the teacher, Mr. Calla, had instructed us on the rules and how to shoot and blah … I picked up my bow, placed in the arrow, and shot. Of course, not really even trying, my arrow made a bulls-eye, **on Hannah's target**! I was so embarrassed. I felt like running away and hiding. The teacher came up to me.

"Hi," he said. He looked like he was nice.

"Hi," I said back. I didn't really know what to say.

"Are you left eye dominant or right eye dominant?" he asked.

What the heck was he talking about? Left eye dominant? Right eye dominant? I just gave him a blank stare, hoping that would answer his question.

"Well?" he asked.

"Um, well, I-I'm left handed," I said. Man, I felt SO stupid!

Mr. Calla just smiled. "Ok," he said. "Look at my finger with both of your eyes." He lifted his finger in front of his face and I looked at it, like he told me to.

"Now point to it with your finger." So I did.

"Now close each eye one at a time, but keep looking and pointing at my finger. With which eye are you pointing closest to where my finger was when you were looking at it with both eyes?"

This kind of confused me but I got the general idea and did what he told me to do. "Ok?" I asked. What was that going to prove?

"Well, which eye made it so that you were pointing closest to my finger?"

I kind of gave him a blank stare. "Um," I thought about it. "My … right eye." I said.

He smiled and said, "Do you want to try a right handed bow? I think that might work better for you."

Ok, first he wanted me to find my stupid 'dominant eye', which seemed to have no real point, and next he wanted me to change what hand I used! What next? Dress as a hippie and do the tango? Even though I didn't understand it, I took up a right-handed bow like he said, loaded my arrow, and shot. I didn't really aim and I hit the hay a couple inches from my target. What was the point of switching bows if it wasn't going to make a difference?

"Well you can't expect to hit anything when you don't aim," Mr. Calla said in reply to my exasperated … noise. Why was he hanging around me? Why couldn't he go bother anyone else? I decided to TRY and aim and then see if he would leave me alone. I loaded an arrow, pointed it in the general direction of the yellow (that's in the center of the target for all you geniuses out there) and was about to shoot … when Mr. Calla stopped me. Again! Gosh, what was this guy's problem?

"Focus, Lane, focus," he said. Yeah, right! What did he think I had been doing? Um … never mind.

I don't know how I did it, but I 'focused' on the yellow, then the tip of my arrow, then I like … crossed my eyes or something to make it all sort of morph together but I mostly saw yellow, then, I shot. Don't ask me how I did it, but I got a bull's-eye. And yes, it was on MY target.

"Good, very good," Mr. Calla said, walking away. I sighed. Yes! Now I didn't have to focus! But you know what? I couldn't help it! I mean, by the time we were done with two hours of archery, the yellow part on my target was totally and COMPLETELY gone. Not that it thrilled me very much. It was still a lame sport.

**_

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_**

**Author's Note: **Just so you know, this chapter _does _have a point. Please review!


	4. Oh No, It's HIM!

**Chapter Four - Oh No, It's HIM!**

"Well, that was a complete waste," Hannah snorted. "I noticed you were flirting with the teacher, Lane. Isn't he hot?"

I groaned and sat down at a table in the dining room, Hannah and Tina following. All that Hannah seemed to think about was boys, boys, and boys. Did I forget to mention boys? It could be SO annoying! But hey, what could I say? She was fifteen years old and was totally gorgeous. Not that anyone but Tina and I would give her the time of day. Don't ask me why for gosh sakes! Maybe it was the way she snorted when she laughed or maybe it was because Sally hated her because Hannah had better looks. No one really knew ... or at least I didn't.

"My goodness, girl," Tina said. "Can't you think of anything of actual interest? I mean, his nose was totally off center, and you know it!"

Gack! Girls. _Wait a minute,_ I thought. _I am one! Never mind then._

"Is anyone sitting here?"

I turned around and glared at the speaker, who just turned out to be Eric Kirby. He was pointing at the fourth chair at the table that no one was occupying. Before we answered, he sat down and placed the napkin in his lap. I heard Tina whisper; "Our reputations are in enough trouble as it is. Can't he go sit somewhere else?" to Hannah and saw Eric's lips curl into a slight smile.

So I just decided to glare at him and turned to my menu. Sally, Cassy, and Kimmy were snickering at the table next to ours and I had no wish to encourage them onward.

"Hola."

I looked up and a waitress was standing by our table, holding a notepad and pen.

"Are you ready to order?" She said in a heavy accent.

"Si," I said (what? So I had taken Spanish. I could hardly remember anything though and 'si' was COMMONLY known as 'yes'). "I will have the Lacarda Mertada with extra cheese and a strawberry lemonade."

The smiling lady wrote down my order, then took everyone else's. "And how you to be paying?" She said, leaving out the 'are'.

"Oh, we're with Carley Peter Boarding School, who's staying at the hotel," Tina said. "Could you please charge it to them?"

"Si, si senorita. Si, I will." And then she walked off.

"I saw how well you did in archery," Eric said.

I think he turned to me but I was ignoring him and didn't want to look to make sure, so I said nothing.

"I hear when you get the hang of it, it's not a bad sport."

I still didn't want to answer so he, annoyingly enough, kept talking. "Heck, I would give anything to be good at it. But, I'm not. Too bad."

I raised my eyebrows. Who did this guy think he was?

"Are you giving me the silent treatment?"

I turned to him, glared at him, then turned away. I supposed that was enough of an answer.

"I guess it'll just have to be a one way conversation, then."

I turned back to him and glared as mean as I possibly could, but he only laughed. He then leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Hey, Lane, are we still cool? In private, I mean. I know you want to keep your reputation as clean as you possibly can and I understand that. But are we still friends; even if you don't want to talk to me?"

By this I was kind of hurt. I mean, I did and didn't want to be friends with him. I didn't know how to answer. It seemed close to impossible. He was a great guy and all but ... I wanted to be popular. But then again, I wasn't anyways. Why even bother to try and be? Why not just be myself?

Tina and Hannah's faces told me to say no, but Eric's ... I wasn't so sure about his face. I had a feeling that saying no would hurt him more than I could imagine; more than I could fathom.


	5. No

**Author's Note:** I'm getting to the story; trust me. I won't take a whole lifetime. Please be patient.

* * *

**Chapter Five - No**

I looked at Eric, then at Hannah and Tina, then at Sally, Kimmy, and Cassy. At that time in my life, I made decisions by majority rules, and majority could not be ignored, not now. I knew what I SHOULD have said, and I knew what the others WANTED me to say, but before I could stop myself I said: "No . . ."

But right then and there I knew without a doubt that I had said one of the worst things in the world. Just seeing the look on Eric's face was enough to make one hurl.

He looked down at the table and then stood up slowly. "Excuse me," he said, and walked away.

"Man, thanks, Lane," Tina said, taking a sip of her water.

Without looking at anyone, I stood up and walked out of the dining room. I knew that Tina and Hannah wouldn't understand but I knew I had to find Eric and ... and ... and just say something. I didn't know what at the time but I knew I would when the time came.


	6. Shunned

**Chapter Six -Shunned**

I searched all over the hotel but I couldn't find Eric anywhere. Finally, after about half an hour, I sat down on a couch in the lobby and rested my head on my hand. _'What have I_ _done?_' I thought for about the hundredth time. 'No' was such a simple word to say but could be very, VERY hurtful to the person you said it to. Of course, it depended on the question.

I could not help but thinking, WONDERING what Eric was thinking at that very moment. I should have said yes; no one but Eric and I knew what the question had been. Why had I given in to peer-pressure? It was one of those things that I always did but regretted whole-heartedly afterwards. This one hadn't taken that long to sink in.

'Hey Lane, are we still cool? ... But are we still friends, even if you don't want to talk to me?' His words were haunting my every being.

My GOSH! How could I have been so blindingly stupid! Eric was one of the coolest guys I knew – my only guy friend! – and I had just practically told him that I didn't want to be friends any more! I know that I hated it when Eric had pretty much shunned me from talking to him in public at the start of middle school; but now I had done that right back at him. Yet I ... I had been worse. I had actually said to his face that I didn't want to be friends with him any more; not even in private!

Man I felt SO ready to kill myself (not literally to all you dimwits out there)!

"Hey, Lane; are you ok?" Tina asked, sitting down next to me. How she found me I didn't know. Maybe it had something to do with sitting out in the open?

"Yeah, did Eric say something to hurt you?" Hannah asked, sitting down on the other side of me. "We can go beat him up if you want us to."

In spite of the moment, I smiled and almost laughed. But gloom settled right back in again. "Thanks, guys," I said weakly. "But it was more what I said."

"What did you say?" Tina asked, taking my hand up in hers.

"Nothing; you wouldn't understand," I said. I didn't really think that Tina and Hannah would find it logical that I was friends with Eric still – or HAD been friends with him. They thought that we had stopped being friends in middle school, like I had thought at first.

* * *

The next morning, we all headed downstairs for our next event – math. Wow, now didn't THAT sound fun. We would be stuck doing stupid equations all day long in a stuffy room. The highlight, I thought, would be when I told Eric I was sorry and that I wanted to stop being friends with him in secret. At least that's what I had planned to do. I didn't know if I would actually have to guts to carry it through. But, hey, it was a noble cause ... wasn't it? 

But it turned out that my assumptions about the math stuff were completely off coarse. The big hotel pool had been reserved for us for a couple of hours and they told us all to break into groups of five before they would tell us what we were going to be doing. So we were going to have five groups.

Right away, Tina, Hannah and I grabbed hands. '_Yes_!' I thought. '_Maybe I can get Eric to be in our group_!' I looked around for him and saw him standing off in the background. He was looking down at the ground and didn't seem to be that interested in the game. "I'll be right back," I told my two best friends.

"You're going to miss the game!" Tina called after me. I chose to ignore her and walked straight up to Eric.

"Hey," I said. He just nodded. "Listen," I began. Yes! I had gotten started! "Umm ... we need two more people for our group and I was wondering if you would like to be one of them. That isn't the only reason I want you to be on our team, honest. I just wanted to say ... to say that I'm sorry about yesterday and that I don't want ..."

Eric turned to me and cut me off by saying: "Don't worry; I won't talk to you anymore." And then he walked off to join a group that was holding up one finger high in the air, clearly saying that they needed one more person for their group.

It felt like my innards were going to spill onto the floor. I knew that I deserved what he had said, but I didn't want to. Tears welled up in my eyes. I thought that maybe I should stand there a little longer than I felt like, just to get my point across and make him feel sorry, but most everyone was already in a group and I figured that I might as well get on back to mine.

It turned out that Tina and Hannah had rounded up two ninth grade boys to be on our team. Now THAT was good. Boys; they would be able to help us win this ... hopefully.

Well, the game didn't turn out to be as fun as I thought it would be. People on the teams took turns diving into the water and retrieving these different colored plastic things. Then you would take it back to your team so that they could figure out the math problem. The team with the most correctly solved coins at the end of the game would win. I noticed that Eric was pointedly not looking at me and of course, his team won because he could do math problems in his head like THAT (snap!)! I don't even think they used their calculator.

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**Author's Note: **I hope this chapter made up for the last one. Please review! 


	7. Activity Three

**Author's Note**: Due to some changes in the rules of FanFiction, song content has been deleted.

* * *

**Chapter Seven** - Activity Three 

RING!

What was that annoying noise?

RRIINNGG!

Oh, it's the phone. Don't they have common sense enough to call when we're NOT asleep?

RRRIIINNNGGG!

_All right, all right, I get the point. I'm getting up!_

RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG!

"Hello?" I asked (into the phone you idiot! What? I was sleepy and in a grumpy mood!).

"Hello. This is Mr. Polycarp, your science teacher. Who do I have the pleasure to be speaking to?"

"This is Lane Martin," I grunted.

"Ah, yes, Lane; one of my best students (Yada, yada, yada. Get to the point!). Well, this morning we are going to be doing the activity that I have planned for the trip and we need to get started bright and early. So up and atom! Wear your school uniform please. Got everything?"

"Yeah, I guess." Why did we have to get up so early?

"All right; be down in the lobby by six o'clock, please."

"Sure." Mr. Polycarp hung up the phone.

_WAIT! SIX O'CLOCK!_

I sat up straight in bed and looked at the clock. Those big annoying red letters read back, '5:15 AM.' FIVE FIFTEEN! Who did this guy think he was, waking us up in the middle of the ... morning?

"Who was that?" Tina asked from the other side of me.

"Uh ... it was Mr. Polycarp," I said. I figured that I should leave out what time it actually was. "We have to be down in the lobby in about forty-five minutes."

"Oh, good. I thought it might be Eric."

A sharp pain of guilt hit me like a tidal wave. Eric; I had forgotten. _NO! BAD, LANE, BAD!_

Tina groaned and slipped out of bed. "I'm going to take a quick shower since I didn't take one last night. We're probably going to go on a hike or something and I want to start out smelling the best I can." She took her school uniform out of the bureau drawer and went into the bathroom, closing the door.

I leaned over and switched on the lamp. Hannah groaned and rolled over, putting her pillow over her face. "Come on, Han," I said, putting my feet on the floor. I didn't think my legs could support my weight yet, so I remained sitting. "Forty-five minutes before we have to be down in the lobby. Get a move on."

Hannah only waved her hand in the air and stayed where she was.

"Don't you have to put your face on?" I asked. I knew this would bug her. She had never in her life worn make-up, but it looked like she wore it all the time. We were always teasing her about it and to be honest, I didn't know why she got so worked up about it when we did.

Hannah immediately hopped out of bed and glared down at me. "You know I've never worn make-up, Lane Marie Jessica Martin!" she practically yelled.

"Ok, ok. Don't blow a fuse. You're going to wake the neighbors ... even though they're coming with us..." I said, trailing off.

"Humph," Hannah grunted. She went over to the bureau, took out her school uniform, and went to change in the corner. I tested my weight on my legs and found they had caught up with the rest of my body. I walked over to the window and parted the curtains an inch or two to look out. The sun hadn't even risen yet! The sky was getting a bit lighter, but not much.

I almost laughed when a voice reached my ears. Tina was singing in the shower! She was, however, soon cut off by Hannah pounding on the bathroom door.

"Hey, Tiny! You're going to wake up everyone in the hotel!"

That must have worked because I didn't hear another peep out of Tina until the shower water turned off and she came out looking refreshed. "I'm done," she said. "One of you guys can have the bathroom now.

Hannah and I had and race, followed by a furious ... catfight, to see who would have the bathroom and oddly enough, I won!

* * *

Most of the students were already in the lobby by the time we got there. I looked around for Eric but didn't see him, so I sat down with Hannah and Tina on one of the couches and kept my eyes pealed for him. After about five minutes, Mr. Polycarp walked out into the lobby and called everyone's attention to himself. 

"Ok," he began. "Today is the day that we get to do my activity and I assure you that it will turn out to be much more interesting than most of you are thinking."

A few snorts followed this little bit and I can be proud to say that mine was one of them. Mr. Polycarp, planning something fun?

"My ears must have excess build up or something," Hannah whispered in my ear. I smiled.

"All right, all right," Mr. Polycarp said. "Quiet down. Wait until you hear what I have to say. I have chartered a plane that will hold all of us and we're going to be flying to an island about 207 miles or so from Costa Rica. We won't be getting off the plane only because we have not gained permission, but we will be having an aerial tour. We have packed lunches for all of you and . . ."

"Excuse me," someone said, standing up. It was Eric. "What island are we going to?"

"Oh, well that's the fun part. We have gained permission from the Costa Rican government to fly rather low over this island so that we may see the animals it holds … for scientific purposes. This island's name is Isla Sorna."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Was there any doubt? Please review! 


	8. Isla Sorna

**Chapter Eight - Isla Sorna**

I saw Eric's face go deathly pale while everyone else began talking excitedly.

"Did - did you just say we're going to Isla Sorna?" he asked shakily. A couple people laughed

"That's right, Mr. Kirby," Mr. Polycarp said, grinning. "Since we have been studying dinosaurs, I figured this would be a great chance to see them up close and personal."

"But - but we can't - we can't," Eric stuttered.

"Don't worry, Mr. Kirby. Everything will be fine. Considering how much I know about dinosaurs, I wouldn't be stupid enough to allow for us to land, now would I?"

"But the Pteranadons..." Eric tried.

"Eric, please. There is nothing to worry about. We will be perfectly safe. Don't you worry," Mr. Polycarp said, trying to reassure him. I could tell that Eric did not look convinced, however.

Then it hit me.

It was true. Either Eric had a very odd fear of dinosaurs (even though he used to love them like anything) or he had actually been on Isla Sorna before. I was going to go for the latter. How could anyone be so frightened of dinosaurs if you hadn't seen them in the flesh? Why was Eric so frightened of loud noises if the dinosaurs Ingen had created weren't real? It all made sense and for some odd reason, I felt that I had to say something in Eric's defense.

So, I took a deep breath and stood up. "Mr. Polycarp?" I said. Tina tugged on my sleeve but I shrugged her off. Everyone was looking at me, even Eric.

"Yes, Miss. Martin," Mr. Polycarp said turning towards me.

"Uh..." I didn't feel so brave anymore. "You know, maybe if... since Eric has been on the island before, we should take his advice and do something else."

Now everyone's mouths were hanging to the floor. I was standing up for Eric! They couldn't believe it, I could tell. I didn't dare look at Eric.

"As I said to Eric," Mr. Polycarp said, looking a little flustered. "We will be plenty safe. Nothing is going to go wrong; trust me. Besides, we're going whether you like it or not. End of discussion."

* * *

Costa Rica slowly grew smaller and smaller as we flew into the clouds. For a few seconds all you could see out the window was whitish-grayish stuff and then, we burst through their masses into the sunshine. Through small breaks in the clouds I could see the ocean below and once in a while I would see a barge or a cruise ship. There wasn't that much to see. 

Tina and Hannah pretty much refused to talk to me and I couldn't turn my disappointed face towards the window as I had an isle seat. So, instead, I either looked ahead into space or down at my lap. Every once in a while I would hear someone whisper some rude comment about me but I just ignored it.

All I could really think about was the fact that Eric still wasn't talking to me. I had caught up to him before we boarded the plane and tried to talk to him, but all he had done was look right through me. It made me feel so alone! First Eric wasn't talking to me, now Tina and Hannah, and the rest of this trip would probably be horrible seeing as how people liked me even less now.

Before I had spoken up for Eric a few hours before, I had actually caught a couple of guys taking sideways glances at me (I was wearing my short skirt and one of my shirts that barely covered my shoulders) but now, it was almost as if they were afraid to look at me. Almost as though if they did, they would become social outcasts for life.

The next half hour was so boring you would not be able to believe it even if I did tell you in detail. But finally, down below, we could see an island. Mist wrapped around the mountains, spiraling their way to the top. Foamy waves crashed against the rock cliffs in white spurts. It looked like it would have made a wonderful resort island.

A voice came over the loud speaker. "Now don't get too excited, kids. This isn't the island we're headed for. This one is Isla Nublar, sight A. The weather and the densities of the foliage make it pretty much impossible for us to have a comfortable tour, so we're going to be heading to the second island, Isla Sorna. On this island we will be able to see the Pteranadons and the Spinosaurus, which are two of the dinosaurs that are not on Isla Nublar."

I heard someone let out a long breath and I turned around in my seat to see Eric looking even paler than before. I tried to smile at him but he only looked away. I figured he would rather go to Isla Nublar because there were less dinosaurs but I wasn't sure. I hadn't really learned how to read his face that well in the last few days.

Another long half hour later, we could see Isla Sorna looming out of the mist. This island was notably different than the first. A few jutting rocks were sticking out of the water around the small island and the mountains didn't seem to be as closely packed together. But it also looked at though it was smaller than Isla Nublar.

We flew over a couple steeply sided mountains covered in green trees and then swooped down low over a valley.

The sight was far better than I could have ever imagined. A heard of fifty feet tall Brachiosauruses were standing up on their hind legs to pull leaves off of trees; waddling Ankylosauruses were eating the long grasses by a river; strange looking Parasaurolophuses were clumped together with a heard of Corythosauruses standing nearby; then who could forget the ever so famous Stegosauruses and Triceratops. It all looked so.

Everyone forgot the thoughts of the day and crammed together to look out the windows as the mister annoying science teacher rambled on about their eating habits and anything else he found fascinating. No one was listening to him. Even Eric was looking out his window with great enthusiasm. I figured he did like this one particular part that the island had to offer.

But what beautiful and strange creatures! Over and over again I had to remind myself that they were real animals and not digitally animated. How could anyone have not wanted to come and see these animals? Why had I attempted to change Mr. Polycarp's mind?

We must have circled and re-circled the island two dozen times before the pilot announced that we must turn back. A loud groan came from everyone but Eric, who breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief. We all looked out our windows for one last glance at the animals before we flew back.

"Well that was far better than I had expected," Tina said.

"Yeah," I muttered. And to think I had ruined my reputation over this!

"Hey, look!" one of the freshmen cried. We all looked out of the window and saw, flying along beside us, a Pteranadon. Another one joined him, then another, and then another.

"My gosh!" a girl cried. "What are they doing? Bidding us farewell?" A lot of people laughed, including me. It did seem as though they were doing just that.

I was amazed at how big they were. They must have had wingspans of thirty feet or more!

But that was pretty much the most pleasant thought I had before one of the Pteranadons swooped in and hit the side of the plane with its beak, leaving behind a huge dint in the wall. Most of us girls screamed and jumped out of our seats. Another Pteranadon came in and hit the wing. The plane wobbled and a couple people fell down.

Eric was gripping his seat tightly and his face looked like death. He was muttering something under his breath that I couldn't hear.

Another hit, then another, and another. The Pteranadons seemed to be going mainly after the wings. "Everyone sit down in you seats and buckle up." The pilot yelled over the speaker. Though it was difficult, his orders were carried through.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! CRUNCH! RIP! BANG! CRUNCH! THUMP!

The plane began to wobble uncontrollably, then, we were headed straight for the ground. Most of it went too fast for me to notice. We were jerked around a lot and swerved every which-way before we were stopped by a sickening CRUNCH.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And your line is, "Well it's about time!" What can I say? I had to set up the story and all. Well, at least they're on the island now. Please review! 


	9. Where is She?

**Chapter Nine - Where is She?**

My eyes flickered open. My head was throbbing with pain, making my vision blurry. All that I could really remember was falling forward into a seat when we hit something but now, I was outside the plane and lying on the ground next to the wreckage of it. It had seemed like a split second and I was amazed to find that I had actually been knocked unconscious.

With a great deal of effort, I pulled myself into a sitting position and cupped my head in my hands. I didn't know how it could hurt so much, but it did. It hurt like heck!

"Lane? LANE!"

I looked up and saw Tina running towards me, limping slightly. She looked scared; REALLY scared.

"Oh, Lane, you weren't breathing and then the dinosaur came and ... I think it was a T-Rex ... oh, Lane; are you hurt badly?" Tina asked, hugging me.

"No, Tina," I moaned. "I think I just got knocked out is all. Where is everyone?"

Tina let go of me and stood back up, helping me to my feet as well. "They're all over there," she said, pointing to a tree. There was a small group of people standing in a group at the bottom.

"Did the - the T-Rex get anyone?" I asked, looking around for Hannah.

"No," Tina said, stepping over some fallen branches on the ground. "Some smaller dinosaurs came and attacked it and chased it off."

"What kind were they?" I asked. I wanted to keep talking because it lessened the pain in my head.

"I'm not sure. They looked like Raptors but they were way too big. About four feet taller at least!"

"Oh," I said. I honestly didn't really want to talk about dinosaurs but didn't know what else there was to talk about at the moment. But luckily, by that time we had reached the group. I could see that not many were there. With a quick scan I counted seven and Hannah wasn't there ... neither was Eric. But Mr. Polycarp, Sally, Cassy, and Kimmy were. Not to mention Daniel Pike, a football player, Jessie Gray, a social outcast, and Kale Meyers, a stupid hot guy.

"Lane; good; you're all right," Mr. Polycarp said. He looked a little panicked. "Now we just have to find the others."

"Who all is missing?" I asked.

"Well let's see … Eric Kirby, who I most want to find, Hannah Denison, your friend … uh ... let's see ... there are several others. Six died in the plane crash, though. Six children!" Mr. Polycarp's hands went to his face and he breathed in long and deep.

"So Hannah's ok?" I asked.

Sally glared at me while Mr. Polycarp didn't respond. "How can you think of your little friend when my boyfriend is out there?" She snapped.

I guessed that meant that Brad Kim was missing also and not dead in the crash.

Tina grabbed my hand. "It's going to be ok, Lane; we'll find her."

I nodded, forgetting all about my throbbing headache, and joined the rest of the group huddled around the tree.

* * *

This mist came down quickly, darkening the sky more than I would have liked. We all agreed that it was a much better idea to sleep in the trees than on the ground. The trees wouldn't have been hard to climb had it been light out side, but it wasn't and there weren't that many flashlights. We did manage to climb the trees however and Tina and I found a spot all to ourselves but not too far away from everyone else.

Slumping against a huge branch, I looked down at the ground below. The white mist was slowly floating in between the trees, looking a lot like cotton and reminding me of the corny effects in old movies. But it wasn't fake; it was real. It was so hard to believe that we were on an island infested with dinosaurs and we could do nothing to control them. Things that we had learned in the past weeks flashed into my head and I was frustrated that I had not paid more attention.

There was the Spinosaurus, which was the largest of all the carnivorous dinosaurs, and the Velociraptors, which were really smart, and so very many more that I could hardly remember. Some seemed more like fairytale creatures and others like horror story mutants. Being on this island was scary and intoxicating (in a good way, people) at the same time.

I sighed and turned away from looking at the ground. Tina was leaning against the branch opposite me with her eyes closed. I didn't have the heart to disturb her, so I rested my head on the branch and closed my eyes.

* * *

The low murmur grew louder and louder. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. The sun was streaming in through the leaves, already hot against my skin, and the scattered groups of people were all talking in hushed voices. I yawned, stretched, and stood to my feet, rubbing a particularly sore spot on the back of my neck.

Tina was sleeping soundly so I decided to go use the restroom. I slowly climbed down the trunk of the tree and stepped onto the ground. The leaves crunching under my feet were much louder than I had expected and I almost yelped in surprise. But what stopped me was not the fear of dinosaurs hearing me, but the fear of the dinosaur staring me in the face that did it … and I didn't need to use the restroom any more.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I have been called the queen of cliffhangers more than once. You should probably get used to these.

Now, I _am _excited to have 19 reviews, but you know, it never hurts to get more (hint, hint!).


	10. Darn Skirt

**Chapter Ten - Darn Skirt**

It was a big dinosaur, I can tell you that; maybe about fifteen feet tall. Behind its head there was what looked like some sort of crest with two horns coming out above the eyes, which were staring at me unblinkingly. I knew what it was; it was a very well known Triceratops. They, I was relieved to remember, were vegetarians. The Triceratops raised its head and let out a low, long sort of roar. I took that as my clue to scramble back up the tree.

"Darn skirt," I muttered as I reached the top, pulling my white school uniform skirt off a tree branch.

"LANE!"

I looked up and saw Tina climbing towards me. She looked rather worried.

"Lane, I thought a dinosaur had eaten you in the night!" Tina exclaimed.

I smiled. "No, I just went to use the restroom is all."

* * *

Mr. Polycarp had decided that we should head to the coast where we would be seen easier from the air, making it more possible for a rescue. 

We slipped noiselessly from tree to tree, hoping not to attract attention to ourselves. We had been going on for about an hour when Kale complained of having to go to the restroom. We stopped for his sake and Tina leaned against a tree, almost disappearing in the long ivy branches hanging down around its trunk. I grinned. "You look so funny, Tina," I whispered. "I doubt any dinosaur could see you in there."

Tina grinned right back. "I bet you're right. It would be a good hiding place, no doubt about that." She sighed and looked around, then looked back at me. Her next words came with great difficulty, I could tell. "You don't – um – you don't think that – do you think Hannah is ok?"

I lowered my gaze. I had been trying hard not to think about her. My words came out a bit shaky. "I don't know. I hope she is. She's smart. If she took to the trees or the – or the ivy," At this bit we both grinned broadly. "I suspect she'll be fine, for a time. She'd be even safer if she was with …"

"Don't – say it," Tina said sternly.

I looked down at the ground. "If she's with Eric."

Tina looked up at the sky and pursed her lips. I could tell she didn't like thinking about him.

"Why are you acting like this?" I asked, getting annoyed at how childish she was being, like someone holding a grudge. "It's not like he did anything to you! I mean, now that we're here, don't you think it's possible that …"

"No," she stated, still not making eye contact with me. I sighed and looked away. The rest of the group was standing off by another tree. It looked like Sally and Kimmy were having a fight over who knew what. Mr. Polycarp was trying desperately to quiet them but they were paying him no heed.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" Sally suddenly cried and stomped away into the jungle. I could tell Mr. Polycarp wanted to run after her, but he didn't. He didn't even yell after her or anything. He just stood there, knowing better than to do so.

I was kind of annoyed at him. Though he did know a lot about dinosaurs, he was acting like he knew everything there was to know about them. No one really wanted to listen to him but everyone did, making him feel more superior and intelligent. It was really beginning to get on my nerves but I would much rather have been with him than out in the wild on my own.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the stillness. It had come in the direction that Sally had retreated.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I know, I know; it's short. The next chapter is probably going to be longer and have a bit of action in it. And don't worry to those of you who might be worrying, Eric is coming back soon, I promise. Please review! 


	11. Gasping

**Chapter Eleven Gasping**

Tina stood up straight, revealing her whole self out of the vines. "What was that?" she asked, frightened.

"Uh ... I think it was Sally," I said.

Suddenly, it sounded as though something was coming crashing through the bushes, and then, Sally emerged with a few sticks sticking out of her hair. She was breathing hard, REALLY hard. Tina and I rushed over, along with everyone else.

Sally bent over and put her hands on her knees, breathing harder than I had ever seen anyone breathe before. Mr. Polycarp put a hand on her shoulder and we all waited until she was able to talk through her gasps. "It … I saw … it was Ka … Kale. He … he was … he was dead."

We all gasped and I stood up straight, my breath catching in my throat. Kale; dead? But he was so hot! _'Lane, that doesn't matter_.' I thought, mentally slapping myself. No matter how hot I had thought Kale to be, that didn't change the fact that he was dead. Wait, had she even checked?

"How could you tell?" I blurted out. Everyone stared at me. I looked at my feet, wishing I could sink into the earth and never been seen again, at least until the people surrounding me had forgotten my stupid comment … or question, however you want to put it.

"Because the thing was …" Sally tried to say. She shuddered. "The thing was … was eating him."

We all gasped (again? Can't we think of better … noises?). "Sally, Sally what kind of creature was eating him?" Mr. Polycarp said.

Sally gulped, then gagged, and we all stepped back a few steps. We could tell she didn't like thinking about the awful thing she had seen, but Mr. Polycarp was making her. She shook her head and tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't know," she snap-sobbed. It was a strange thing, hearing Sally snap at someone in the middle of a sob. "Like I pay attention in class." Now that had been a true sneer.

Mr. Polycarp shifted his weight. "That doesn't matter now. We need to know, Sally. Just, just describe it for us."

Sally nodded. She wrinkled up her face and then shook it. Her complexion oddly turned a sort of green color. "It was biggish-small. It was … oh how should I know? I don't know anything about dinosaurs!"

"But we need to know," Mr. Polycarp protested.

"Sally, was it about six feet tall … or so?" Tina asked. I looked over at her. She was staring off into the trees and her face looked deathly pale. Sally nodded. "Did it have feather looking things on its head?" Tina asked, her face growing even paler.

"Um… yeah, I think so," Sally said. "Why?"

"Maybe we should … um, you know. Move." Tina said.

"Tina what are you …" I began. But suddenly, something darted out of the trees and pounced on Jessie, squashing him to the ground. I caught a fleeting glimpse of how tall the thing was, about six feet or so, and some feathers on its head. But that was all I saw before more things began jumping out of the trees and surrounding us.

Tina grabbed my arm and we ran. I felt something slash against my back and I screamed in pain, but kept running. Through the trees and bushes, over logs and stumps. I didn't stop for anything. Tina a run a head of me and was nowhere in sight. Maybe she thought one of the animals had gotten me or something; maybe she didn't care. But I kept on running, pushing these thoughts out of my mind and only concentrating on running, running for my life. What if something was running after me, chasing me into the depths of the forest? What if I was running into a trap?

This sudden thought slowed my gait, yet I kept running. Keeping my pace as steady as possible, I was able to keep my breath under some kind of control. But whatever had happened to my back was beginning to shoot sharp pains all through my body and I knew that I wouldn't be able to move very fast for much longer.

Without paying attention, I did not notice the thing ahead of me, running in my direction. The only way I did, was when I ran into it. I fell back on the ground, crying out in pain as my injury hit the dirt. My vision became blurry with tears and I saw the thing leaning over me. It was blue … but too skinny to be a dinosaur. Or was it? I couldn't tell.

"Lane. Lane. Get up, Lane. You need to get up. We're in the open," the thing was saying, trying to pull me to my feet. But every time it jerked on my arm, my back began to hurt even worse.

I wrenched my arm from its grasp and put it back onto the lower half of my back. Gently I inched my hand along. Well, the bottom half of my shirt was missing, I could tell you that. Then, my hands met something sticky yet strangely wettish. I kept slowly moving my hand until I got to the real source of my pain. I quickly pulled my hand away, sobbing in pain. There was a huge gash in the lower half of my back.

"Lane, I know it hurts, but you need to get up. Come on, Lane. Please?" the person (as I had so intelligently discovered it was by now) was pleading now, trying to gently lift me to my feet. I obeyed, but quickly wished I hadn't. The pain was so great, I felt, no, I WISHED that I would die. I bit my tongue, and raised myself to my full height.

"Come on, Lane, we need to run. Do you think you can do that for me?"

I nodded weakly and began walking. As my eyes cleared, my step quickened and I was soon in a run. I couldn't tell whom I was following, but there were two of them. We raced along as I had done before, my back not hurting near as much any more. As we ran, I received a few more cuts and later found bruises. One particular cut I got from a large tree branch that came up out of nowhere was on my upper right arm, and it was rather deep. Clapping a hand over it so that I wouldn't lose too much more blood, I kept on, running doggedly after my rescuers.

Finally, we reached a swamp looking place with what looked like a water … truck … thing in the middle. We hopped up on what I thought was a rock, then jumped onto a desk looking thing, then one of the people opened and hatch and the other person and I climbed inside, followed by … the person who had opened the hatch.

It was rather dark and dingy inside and a bit damp and musty smelling. It was crowded with shelves full of stuff and there were boxes everywhere. The person who had entered before me turned around and smiled. I almost choked. "HANNAH!" I cried.

"Hush!" she said, beaming. "You don't want to attract any unwanted visitors. Now sit down," she said, motioning to what looked like a bed. She pushed a couple boxes off and I gladly sat down.

"What's up?" the other person said, stepping into the light of a lamp hanging from the ceiling. It was Eric Kirby.

"Nothing much," I said. But then, the pain from my wound came back, and it came back strong. I shook my head and rested it in my hands, not wanting Eric to see my tears,

"Lane, what's wrong?" Hannah asked, sounding worried. But I barely heard her before I fainted from the pain.


	12. Info

**Chapter 12 -Info**

I opened my eyes, slowly, but it was done. I felt rather nauseous but I knew that was because I had fainted. I tried to sit up, squinting in the bright light; my whole body was stiff. Not only my muscles were hurting, but also the gash across my back and my right arm were bandaged tightly. I couldn't really remember what had happened at first, so I so stupidly asked, "Where the heck am I?"

"This, my fine, injured … fellow, is my … home." Eric said, coming towards me. I opened my mouth to ask what had happened when he spoke again. "And you fainted just after we rescued you."

"We?" I asked in bewilderment. I felt really dumb, but I seriously didn't remember.

"Yeah, we," A voice said from my left. I turned and in the dim light cast from the lantern, I saw Hannah. Then, it all came flooding back and with a groan, I flopped back onto the bed, but quickly sat back up again as the gash on my back sent a searing pain up and down my spine.

"You took quite a beating," Eric said, sitting down next to me on the bed. "So we figured you deserved the bed … even though it was _my_ turn."

I grinned and nodded.

"So, any idea what happened?" he asked.

"Not really," I said, feeling even _more_ dumb. "I remember something jumping out of the bushes and landing on Jessie, then more things jumping out of the bushes. I don't know what they were though. And then Tina …"

"OH MY GOSH!" Hannah cried, gabbing my hand. "IS SHE OK? SHE ISN'T DEAD, IS SHE? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER, LANE!"

"Hush!" Eric said. "_What_ did I tell you about being loud? You _don't_ want to let any dinosaurs know where we're hiding! Otherwise they'll trap us in here and we'll run out of the nasty food that we have VERY quickly and have to pee in a tin can. Do you want that?"

I knew I blushed. His bluntness about the matter of peeing in a tin can was kind of embarrassing. Hannah and I both shook our heads and no one said anything for a bit.

"So, Lane," Eric said, breaking the silence. "Are you going to finish your story?"

"Uh, yeah," I said. "Well, as I said, Tina grabbed my arm and we started running. Something, as you could probably tell, slashed my back, but I kept on going. I lost track of Tina so – so I don't know if she's ok or not. But then I bumped into – into …"

"Me," Eric said. "Ok. Do you happen to know what the things were?"

I didn't really see the point in knowing this and as I didn't, I said so. Eric asked me if I could describe them, so I thought hard about it and finally came up with a mental image of the day before. It somehow seemed more vivid than when I had actually witnessed it happening.

"Well, um, they were about six feet tall … or so. Some of them were kind of white looking and the others had what almost looked like feathers on their heads. I'm sorry, but I think that's the best I can do. I'm no dinosaur expert or anything," I said.

"I think those were Raptors," Eric said, a shiver running down his spine. "The ones that looked almost white were the females and the ones with feathers on their heads would be the males."

"But, that doesn't make sense!" I exclaimed, turning to look him in the eye. "I mean, in class, I remember Mr. Polycarp saying that they were only two feet tall and weighed about 150 pounds. Those animals I saw were _way_ too big!"

"Lane, I'm surprised!" Eric said teasingly. "You actually pay attention in class?"

I shrugged this off. "And besides, what's the deal with the feathers?"

"Well, I don't exactly know what the feathers are for," Eric said. "But I _do_ know about the difference in size. You see, when Hammond created the dinosaurs, along with a team of highly trained professional DNA experts, he wanted to make the animals as realistic as possible. But when they made their first batch of Velociraptors, there seemed to be something wrong with them, so they started over.

"But before they started, someone suggested that they make them bigger for better viewing. Hammond didn't really like the idea, but decided it would be best for the customers, so he agreed. That's why they're bigger. Because they were genetically engineered to be that way for the purpose of viewing."

"So, when they first started making them, they were the right size and everything?"

"Oh yeah!" Eric said. I could tell that he liked talking about dinosaurs, even though he was scared to death about them.

"Two feet tall, 150 pounds. But they were all getting some sort of disease and getting REALLY sick. So they had to go through the DNA strand to see what the problem was."

"How do you know so much about this?" I asked. He was talking as though he had read it off a plaque he'd found the last time he had been here or something.

Eric smiled. "Before … uh, before I was here last time, I was sort of a dinosaur freak and …"

Both Hannah and I scoffed. He had got that right.

"Well, I guess I still am," he admitted sheepishly. "So, I would read all the books I could find on them. Plus, I went to all of the museum exhibits I could find. But my favorite books were those of Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist. He had been on the first island, Isla Nublar, sight A, to see if all the dinosaurs were right. That's when they had to abandon and all that because of the power failure. All the dinosaurs got out and reeked havoc. So he wrote a book about it. It's really interesting; you should pick it up sometime.

"Well, basically, he mentioned all that stuff in his book and I liked them so much I practically memorized them. I still remember them. Not word for word or anything, just, you know, the basic concept."

"I knew you were weird the first time I met you," I said, teasing. Eric smiled.

"Uh, listen," I said, feeling embarrassed. "I kind of have to … you know, answer the call of nature."

Eric blushed and cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh. I'll stand guard and, Han, you can help her because it's going to be hard with all the bandages and stuff."


	13. THUMP!

**Chapter 13 - THUMP!**

I lifted my head wearily and looked around the water truck. Hannah was sleeping next to me, curled up in a small ball, and Eric was on the bed, snoring. I smiled. I had never imagined Eric to be the snoring type.

I groaned and sat up. My back was killing me! Guess I wasn't used to sleeping on a rock solid floor.

Eric stirred in his sleep, then sat up wearily to look around. When he saw that I was awake too, he asked; "What was that sound?"

I grinned. "Just me," I said. "I'm not used to sleeping on the floor is all."

"Yeah, it can't be easy with those cuts either," he said, looking at my numerous bandages.

"Oh, I'm all right. Really," I insisted, climbing to my feet. "I really do feel much better," I lied. Eric nodded and looked away. "So … what are we doing today?" I asked, sitting down on the bed next to him.

He turned to me and just stared into my eyes for a few seconds. It kind of gave me the creeps and I got the strange sensation that I liked him. So I looked away.

He sighed. "With three of us staying here now, we'll probably need some more food. Maybe we can scrounge up some bedding for those who have to sleep on the floor. It's Hannah's turn for the bed tonight."

I nodded.

"So … should we get started?" I questioned.

"Let's let Han sleep," Eric said. "We can have a bit to eat if you're hungry, though."

As if it had ears and wanted to answer, my stomach gave a growl. Eric smiled and grabbed a can of beans. "Dig in," he said, handing it to me.

Looking at the cold beans in the can made me want to throw-up, but my hunger overpowered me. I held my breath, closed my eyes, and took a bite. YUCK!

_

* * *

_

Eric waved for us to come out of the water truck. He was hiding in the protection of the trees and looking in every direction, keeping an eye out for dinosaurs. I carefully but quickly climbed out of the hatch and hopped from the desk to the embedded metal thing in the swamp … it might have been a car … but I wasn't really sure. I ran up next to Eric in the cover of the vines. Hannah joined us soon after and we began to carefully dodge from tree to tree.

It only took us about ten minutes to get around to the compound, which is what Eric called the place with all the buildings that were once nice looking and where to stupid idiots made the dinosaurs and … I'll shut-up now.

We walked through the open doors and looked around. A reception desk faced us and on the counter was a phone, the receiver lying next to it. "My mom thought it might work last time we were here," Eric snickered.

Walking over the nature-strewn floor, we made our way farther into the building, all the while keeping a look out for any creatures. Dinosaurs, if you couldn't tell.

We came upon a vending machine, which had been broken open. There wasn't very much left and we were able to fill our pockets with the candy before we went off. It was mostly candy bars. There were a couple gummy bear packets, which Eric said we could use to fill up holes in the water truck or chuck at the dinosaurs we were attacked by.

We kept walking until we reached a large room. We walked down some uncomfortably loud stairs and I began looking around. I could tell Eric and Hannah had been there before and wanted to get on, but they didn't protest.

"We just don't want to be here that long, ok?" Eric whispered.

I nodded and looked around. What I later found out to be incubators were lined up in a neat row. Some of them were open, others closed, but all of them had the glass broken. Eggshells were scattered around the floor in an unceremonious manner. When I came upon some glass tube looking things that held preserved dinosaurs in various stages of their development, Eric cleared his throat and I looked over at him.

"We should be moving on," He said. I nodded again and followed them out of the room.

We walked along a series of halls until Eric forced a door open and Hannah and I entered after him. It was a rather large room with shelves everywhere. The first few cases were empty but there seemed to be hundreds more. Upon them stood different kinds of boxes.

"Get as much as you can carry, Han, and you too, Lane," Eric said. "Just not too much because you want to be able to move quickly and silently."

"What are you going to carry?" Hannah asked.

Eric smiled at her. "We're going to get more blankets. Now that Lane is here, we need it!"

Hannah and I nodded.

"Eric," I asked. "What is _in _the boxes?"

Eric smiled. "Food, and lots of it. I know the beans are gross but … you'll just have to live with it. We don't really have a choice."

I nodded and went over to one of the shelves. I picked up two boxes and found that my arms were full.

Hannah was waiting for me over by Eric. "Where are we going to get the bedding stuff?" I questioned.

Eric shushed me and slowly pulled the door open a crack. He peeked through and just stood there for a couple of seconds. He then slowly opened the door a bit more and stuck his head out, looked around, then motioned to us to follow him. We quietly crept out of the room and down the hall. We took a left turn, then a right, then a right again, and Eric opened a door, shooing us in.

It was dark and a bit damp in the room. There wasn't really that much light and the light that was there was eerie. I didn't like being in this place.

There didn't seem to be anything of great significance in the room. It might have been a bathroom once. There were the remnants of a toilet in the corner and places that looked like sinks had once hung there, but not much else. There wasn't really any tile on the walls or on the floor.

"What the heck happened in here?" Hannah whispered.

"Eric!" I whispered, but not very lightly (which earned me a "Hush!" from Hannah). "Why did you bring us in here!" I said, quieter this time.

"There was something moving around the corner," he said. "I didn't want to risk finding out what it was."

My heart seemed to skip a beat. There had been a dinosaur … right around the corner? This was bad, _real_ bad. I didn't like being in this room. It seemed too confined, like we were in a trap. The hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up and I began to get the feeling we were being watched. "Eric," I said in a barely audible voice. "I don't like being in this room. This isn't a very good hiding place. If that thing –"

Eric quickly held out his hand and I stopped talking.

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! _Something was walking in the hall. And after every thump there was a soft _CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! _

"Raptor," Eric breathed.

Ok, now I **_know _**my heart skipped a beat there. A Velociraptor. This wasn't good; this wasn't good at all. Eric had told me as much as was humanly possible the other day about all the dinosaurs on this island and the only one that had kept me awake that night was the Raptor. It was a miracle I had only gotten away with a gash on by back during that attack the other day. And suddenly, as if on cue, the gash began to sting and any move I made caused it to hurt worse.

The 'thumps' stopped outside our door (or at least it sounded that way) and the Raptor sniffed the air. The breath caught in my throat. _Oh my gosh, we're going to die! We are SO going to die! _I kept thinking to myself. _WE'RE GOING TO DIE!_

Then, (this made me really sick) it sniffed the crack at the bottom of our door …

**TO BE CONTINUED!**

_

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_

**Kelly** – Thanks for the cookies! They were good!

**Beautyqueen321_ – _**About the romance … there might be a bit … but it won't be that strong. Remember, they're on a dinosaur infested island and they don't really have time to think about that stuff … but yes … there's always the possibility of a touch …


	14. More Than One

**Author's Note: **Okay everyone, here's my new chapter and shame on you if you don't review.

* * *

**Chapter 14 - More Than One**

_"Eric," I said in a barely audible voice. "I don't like being in this room. This isn't a very good hiding place. If that thing –"_

_Eric quickly held out his hand and I stopped talking. _

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Something was walking in the hall. And after every thump there was a soft CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! _

_"Raptor," Eric breathed. _

_Ok, now I **know **my heart skipped a beat there. A Velociraptor. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. Eric had told me as much as was humanly possible the other day about all the dinosaurs on this island and the only one that had kept me awake that night was the Raptor. It was a miracle I had only gotten away with a gash on by back during that attack the other day. And suddenly, as if on cue, the gash began to sting and any move I made caused it to hurt worse. _

_The 'thumps' stopped outside our door (or at least it sounded that way) and the Raptor sniffed the air. The breath caught in my throat. Oh my gosh we're going to die! We are SO going to die! I kept thinking to myself. WE'RE GOING TO DIE!_

_Then, (this made me really sick) it sniffed the crack at the bottom of our door._

* * *

I clenched my teeth together and slowly and silently began to walk backwards toward the wall behind me. Hannah quickly held up a hand to stop me and shook her head. _But we're going to die! _I thought. _I don't want to die! I want to put as much space between me and that creature as possible!_

It appeared, however, that Hannah was not telepathic, as she paid me no heed.

The sniffing at the bottom of the door stopped. There was stillness, quiet. For some odd reason, the silence seemed to make it even worse than it had been before.

_WE'RE GOING TO DIE!_ I nearly screamed out loud. My breathing became harder and faster. As Eric and Hannah's were doing the same, they made no move to stop me.

How could we be in this situation? We couldn't die; we were too young; still teens. I know I sure hadn't had a boyfriend yet and I still wanted to get married and have children. Why were we here? What purpose would be fulfilled with us being in this horrific place?

The noise that suddenly protruded from the Raptor made me nearly jump out of my skin. It began this some sort of squawking … or … chirping … whatever you wanted to call it.

Eric no longer tried to be silent. He whirled around towards us and spoke … not in a whisper … but actually spoke. The shake he could not hide in his voice made me want to scream. "Hurry. We have to find a way out. Give me something to wedge against the doorknob to bide us some time," he said quickly. How could Eric be scared? He was always so brave?

I scanned the entire room. What the heck were we supposed to use? The nonexistent toilet? **There was nothing in the room!**

My head began to throb and I began to get dizzy. _NO! _I screamed in my head. _No, Lane. You are NOT going to faint. You faint and it's all over for you. AND you'll put Eric and Han in greater danger than they are already in. You may NOT faint. Do you hear me! _"GET A STUPID GRIP ON YOURSELF!"

Well … seeing how Eric and Hannah stared at me … I figured I had said the last bit out loud. "Sorry," I whispered.

I looked around the room, racking my brain for any smart scheme. I looked all around. The floors, the dark corners, the ceiling, the hole in the ceiling, the walls … WAITThe hole in the ceiling. "Eric," I whispered, forgetting that the raptor couldn't understand us (he was still chirping away in the hall. The little annoying creep). "Look up."

Both Eric and Hannah looked up to the ceiling. Hardly any emotion showed on their faces when they spotted the hole and possible escape, but I knew they were very relieved.

A loud clattering and clicking sounded in the hall and more chirps brought my full attention to the danger that was just on the other side of the door. More Raptors had arrived.

"Quick," Eric whispered hoarsely. "I'll try and hold the door. GO!"

"But –" I started. Hannah pushed me over to the bottom of the hole and held her hands in a cup, clearly telling me in unspoken words to step upon them. I took one look at Eric, standing at the door, bracing himself against the dark forces on the other side, before I stepped up on Hannah's hands and lifted myself into the room above.

I took no time to look at the room, but spun around and lay flat on my stomach, reaching down to Hannah. She jumped, grabbed my hands, and planted her feet on the wall. With a great deal of effort on both of our parts, she was pulled into the room. We were both panting for breath but did not wait to catch it. Eric was still down there. "ERIC!" I yelled at him.

**Crack! Splinter! **The door was giving way. I couldn't see Eric. Where had he gone? "ERIC!" I screamed urgently.

* * *

**Author's Note: **What can I say? I love cliffhangers! 

_Special thanks to my beta reader, Angelpiano88 for all your help. _

* * *

**The Elfin Child: **Congratulations on getting your license! Drive me somewhere? 

**The Greenleafed One: **That's ok; it's not that evil. Almost everyone I know laughed at that part too so, you're ok.

**Acetoorion: **Yeah, Raptors freak me out too. And thanks about building the characters up … I guess I always do that … or I try to. It just comes natural really.

**Beautyqueen321: **You're very welcome. You asked, "What happened with the rest of the people that were on the island with them? Are they gonna meet up with them later or somethin?" I'm going to get to them in a bit, trust me. And you'll find out what happens to them when I do. I just like sticking with Lane because she's the one telling the story … I'm considering going to their families though … seeing what they're feeling like. Tell me if you want me to do that or not … and you'll see if they meet up with them or not.

**Antiope: **Yes, in a way, it could be considered begging but … I don't mind. Not in the least. It's great to know that you love the raptors … and same goes for me.


	15. Yearning for Friends

**Chapter 15 -Yearning for Friends**

_Eric was still down there. "ERIC!" I yelled at him._

_**Crack! Splinter! **The door was giving way. I couldn't see Eric. Where had he gone? "ERIC!" I screamed urgently. _

* * *

"**ERIC!**" both Hannah and I screamed down into the dark room. 

With a clatter, the door fell off its hinges into the room. The once dark bathroom was filled with sunshine; only the dark shadows in the doorway were baring most of it off.

"**ERIC! ERIC, COME ON!"** Hannah and I screamed together. A Raptor charged into the room and leapt up at the hole. Hannah and I quickly stood up. Not waiting for Eric (as I wished to do), Hannah grabbed my hand and lead me away … **fast**! I didn't even really notice our surroundings as we went from hall to hall from room to room, through door after door until we reached some sort of balcony thing. Hannah had still not let go of my hand but was leading me onward. Not that I needed her to hold onto me. I could follow very well, thanks.

We ran over to the side of balcony and looked over the edge. I would say we were about three or four stories up.

"Shoot," Hannah said, looking around. "Follow me!" she said after she had spotted a possible escape. We charged down to the end of the balcony and skidded to a stop. A TREE!

"Han," I said. "You are **brilliant!**"

She smiled and climbed up onto the railing. She grabbed a branch and swung herself onto another and waved for me to follow.

I hesitated for … a second. I hated climbing trees. It was everything. The height was just a small part. Well … not really. More a _big_ part than anything else. But the feel of bark … and the chance that bugs might crawl down my shirt … not pleasant.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed a branch and began to climb down. Immediately, my skin began to crawl and my cuts began to burn for no particular reason. With every movement, every time I stretched my skin in any way, the stupid gashes would feel as though something was trying to rip them apart. Probably because I was ripping the scabs but … you know.

But, then again, I remembered that the Raptors were most likely behind us and could probably _jump_ down to the ground. I began to climb down much faster after that. I just concentrated on _ok, one less branch if you pass this one_ and … junk. It really worked, though. I reached the ground in no time! Of course, Hannah was practically tapping her foot in impatience … but we won't go into details.

After we had _both_ taken a deep breath, we darted across the open space and ran full speed into the trees. Every time my foot hit the ground, a sharp pain would shoot up my back and every stride I took I had to resist the urge to turn around and look for Eric. _No, Lane. Do NOT think about that now! _I thought. _It will only make matters worse._ So … I kept on running, following Hannah through underbrush and through vines.

Hannah suddenly stopped running and I ran into her, falling to the ground. I nearly yelled at her; then I remembered we were on a dinosaur-infested island and it probably wasn't all that great of an idea to attract attention. I slowly stood up and brushed the dirt off of my already soiled clothes. I looked around to see why Hannah had stopped so suddenly and I couldn't find anything that could be the cause. "Hannah. What …?" I began.

She stopped me by holding out her hand and whispering; "Lane, hush. Listen."

So, I listened. And I listened. And I listened. But I couldn't hear anything. "Han, I can't hear a darn thing. What the heck is going on?"

Hannah sighed and looked down at her feet. "I thought I heard someone calling out my name," she muttered. "Ever since I got separated from you and Tina, I just … I thought … I would hear … and then you came. I thought the worst had happened until you told me you had been with her. So I thought she would be ok. But … now that we haven't seen her for a while … I really miss her, Lane!"

"I know," I said, fully realizing that Tina was not with us and could very well be dead. These thoughts had not been in my head before and now they were. I didn't know how to deal with it; so what was the point in trying to comfort Hannah when I wasn't even able to comfort myself? But … Hannah could keep her cool around the dinosaurs so much better than I could. I felt it was my duty to keep my head about our friends … about Tina. And though I felt that my heart would rip in two if anything happened to Tina … and Eric … I knew that I had to help Hannah make it through this.

"I miss her too, Hannah. But … we've got to be strong. Tina is _really _smart. She's the one who got me out of the mess with the Raptors the first time. I would have been some cub's dinner if it hadn't been for her. She kept her head cool and calm and pulled me out with her. That's why she's going to be ok. That's why we're all ok. I can't do it but you and … Eric … can. And so can she; so can Tina. She's ok and she'll stay ok, Han. I know she will."

I sounded much more confidant than I felt, but I was proud of myself. Hannah looked a lot calmer and really, the words that had just come out of my mouth, made me feel a whole lot better about not knowing where Tina and Eric were. Eric had lived on this island for eight weeks at one time; he could pull through one more time. And Tina had kept her head when no one else could, when she needed to stay calm. Not only had she saved herself, but she had saved another as well. That was why she was going to make it through; that was why she was ok.

"What now?" Hannah asked after our long moment of silence.

"Well," I said. "Seeing as how I have NO idea where on earth … exactly … we are, why don't we climb a tree to get out of harm's way?"

"Sounds good to me," Hannah said wearily. She chose a nearby tree that looked tall and easy to climb. We both began climbing. Even though I hated it more than anything, climbing up didn't seem very bad. At least we would be getting away from the dinosaurs.

When we were about half way up, the ground began to shake. Like … you know … with a **boom boom boom **thing going on. Well, I kind of freaked out. I mean, well … 'kind of' is an understatement. I TOTALLY freaked out. I all of a sudden froze and it seemed as though I was dizzy and num all over. Then, without warning, I just started screaming and yelling. I think I said I wanted my mommy one time in there, too.

Hannah tried to calm me down but it wasn't working too well. I couldn't really hear her to tell you the truth. I was just yelling and blabbing on, making our situation worse. The stupid dinosaur wouldn't have even known that we were there if it wasn't for me. That's right. My stupid fit led it right to us when it was really going heaven knows where else.

The thing that really got me to stop screaming was when through the branches, I saw it running straight at the tree we were hanging in. Wow! Was that thing huge! It was reddish with a huge fin on its back. I knew it wasn't a Tyrannosaurus. It was bigger. MUCH bigger. It looked like it could actually use its front legs, unlike the pitiful ones of the T-Rex.

Well, we were in a predicament. There's no denying that. If we went up, we would have to come down some time and the stupid animal thing could wait for as long as it wanted. Or, we could go down, and have no chance whatsoever to survive. If we stayed where we were, the idiotic creature … thing … would … It would just be able to pluck us right off the darn tree, all right? **Guess what we did! **

That's right! Our fears had frozen us RIGHT in place. Yep, we were doomed.

So, the dinosaur came running up to the tree, lowered its head, and hit it really hard. We were, coincidentally, right on the other side of where it hit the tree and, as I had a very pathetic grip on a rather thin branch, the branch, and myself, went plummeting down to the earth.

* * *

**Guess: **Oh, I'm scared. Very scared … 

**Morning sunrise: **I figured.

**MS: **You are a sad strange human being.

**Antiope: **Yes, I know. Aren't I though? DON'T TSK ME! DO YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME! COME ON! I CHALLENGE YOU … TO A DUEL! MWAHAHAHAHAHA … I'm done now. Don't hurt me! pouts and does puppy dog eyes

**Shooting Star: **I'm glad that SOMEONE is concerned about Eric! But … I'm sorry … you're just going to have to wait and see! I just LOVE being evil …

**Giggles: **Well, I am certainly glad that it could be MY story that you love so much. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Lane's not a Mary Sue! does a little dance Happy day.

**The Greanleafed One: **I have and forever more will we fatally wounded by your attempt to kill the cliffhanger. Utterly and completely… yeah. You aren't dead are you!

**flutterby: **You're … just … I … pats on back


	16. What to Do

**Author's Note: **Thank you guys _so_ much for _all_ of the feedback. It helps me a lot.

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**Chapter Sixteen - What to Do**

_When we were about half way up, the ground began to shake. Like … you know … with a **boom boom boom **thing going on. Well, I kind of freaked out. I mean, well … 'kind of' is an understatement. I TOTALLY freaked out. I all of a sudden froze and I couldn't move and it seemed as though I was dizzy and numb all over. Then, without warning, I just started screaming and yelling. I think I said I wanted my mommy one time in there too._

_Hannah tried to calm me down but it wasn't working too well. I couldn't really hear her to tell you the truth. I was just yelling and blabbing on, making our situation worse. The stupid dinosaur wouldn't have even known that we were there if it wasn't for me. That's right. My stupid fit led it right to us when it was really going heaven knows where else. The thing that really got me to stop screaming was when through the branches I saw it running straight at the tree we were hanging in. Wow! Was that thing huge! It was reddish with a huge fin on its back. I knew it wasn't a Tyrannosaurus. It was bigger. MUCH bigger. It looked like it could actually use its front legs. _

_Well, we were in a predicament. There's no denying that. If we went up, we would have to come down some time and the stupid animal thing could wait for as long as it wanted. Or, we could go down, and have no chance whatsoever to survive. If we stayed where we were, the idiotic creature … thing … would … It would just be able to pluck us right off the darn tree, all right? **Guess what we did! **_

_That's right! Our fears had frozen us RIGHT in place. Yup, we were doomed. _

_So, the dinosaur came running up to the tree, lowered its head, and hit it, really hard. We were, coincidentally, right on the other side of where it hit the tree and, as I had a very pathetic grip on a rather thin branch, the branch and myself, went plummeting down to the earth. _

* * *

Wow did it hurt like heck when I hit the ground. We were, you know, about thirty feet or so up in the tree and when you land on your back after falling from that height … it didn't feel too pleasant is what I'm trying to say; quite the contrary. Having the wind knocked out of you is no picnic. Like I said before, it hurt like heck. 

I rolled over onto my stomach and groaned. That was it; I couldn't move anymore. As I rolled, I felt the bandage around my stomach loosen and fall off. That was just great. My wonderful, beautiful wound was now open for all the world to see. I was sure that some dinosaur would smell the stupid blood and then come running after me.

A scream suddenly ripped through the air. I looked up into the tree. Hannah was frantically trying to climb higher up the tree while the dinosaur kept butting into it with its head. She was out of his reach, even when the thing stood on its hind legs, but I could see that the head butting was putting her at a slight disadvantage.

"**LANE! OH GOSH; HELP! SOMEONE!**" She was screaming. The dinosaur butted into the tree and Hannah's feet fell off of the branch they had been planted on. Hannah screamed again but had luckily been holding on to the branch above her with her arms. **"OH MY GOSH! HELP ME! LANE! HELP! SOMEONE!" **

She screamed again as the dinosaur began to walk around the tree towards her.

Well, seeing as how the thing was coming straight towards me (only he was looking up at Hannah), I decided I wanted to move. And let me tell you, my wind came right back into me in a rush as I pushed myself off the ground and ran into the cover of the trees, trying to block out Hannah's frantic screams for help.

**"SOMEBODY HELP ME! OH GOSH! HELP!"**

Hannah screamed again, even more frantically than before, and I heard a thud. I quickly turned around and saw that she had fallen from her hold, landing on her back, her body draped over a large branch. The dinosaur could easily reach one of her feet if it just stood up a little bit. Hannah wasn't moving.

**"HANNAH! HANNAH, GET UP! MOVE, HANNAH!" **I screamed. She didn't move, but the dinosaur did. Right away I realized what a stupid thing I had just done. I was on the ground … in plain view. The stupid dinosaur thing was looking for me! I began to slowly walk backwards and ran right into a tree.

I froze; the dinosaur was looking up and down the tree I was leaning against, but it didn't see me. It just kept on looking. I looked down at myself and realized I was covered in mud. Yes, it was brown mud, people. I must have fallen in it when I fell out of the tree.

Now the dinosaur was looking in different places. I quickly ran around to the back of the tree and began to climb. It's amazing how fast you can climb when you really need to, isn't it?

Well, I reached a good height in what seemed like only seconds (but I'm sure it was longer) and peered out through the branches.

Hannah was only just sitting up, shaking her head and looking at her surroundings. I had to do something … but would doing something put myself in danger? I contemplated what to do. If I yelled, it was most likely that Hannah could climb up higher … but then we'd both be stuck up in the trees, because the dinosaur would know that both of us were there. But if I didn't yell, Hannah wouldn't have enough time to climb to a good height.

When Hannah saw the dinosaur, she screamed and stood up. The dinosaur whipped its head around and stared straight at her. Hannah's eyes widened and she whirled around to begin climbing. But …

I turned away as a sickening **CRUNCH **cracked through the air, along with Hannah's muffled scream. There followed a few more crunching sounds and then a loud swallow, then the sound of the dinosaur walking away in the opposite direction.

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**Author's Note: **Holy moly that chapter was short.

* * *

**Flutterby: **none taken. 

**Antiope: "**Another cliffhanger? Both short, and suspenseful?" Well, you should know by now, that I love being evil. Cliffhangers are just my thing. And yes, it was rather short, wasn't it? I'll work to improve this I shall. No, actually, I'm not feeling lucky at the moment. In fact, it is very rare that I DO feel lucky so … NO TOUCHIE!

**Kel: **I'll bring the tissues!


	17. Hammond

**Author's Note: **I am _really_ sorry about taking this long to post this chapter. I just had a bit of a problem with figuring out what appearance to give Lane, as it's mentioned in my chapter. I sort of didn't want to, because I knew most people would have a mental image of what they thought she would look like and I didn't want to mess them up or anything. Sorry if I get it "wrong". I _did_ take a vote with those on my mailing list, but there were a few ties so … I had to make up my mind between them. And you'll find what we came up with later on in this chapter.

**_

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_**

**Chapter Seventeen - Hammond**

_When Hannah saw the dinosaur, she screamed and stood up. The dinosaur whipped its head around and stared straight at her. Hannah's eyes widened and she whirled around to begin climbing. But …_

_I turned away as a sickening **CRUNCH **cracked through the air, along with Hannah's muffled scream. There followed a few more crunching sounds and then a loud swallow. Then the sound of the dinosaur walking away in the opposite direction._

**_

* * *

_**

I just sat there in my tree. I couldn't turn around; I couldn't think; I couldn't do anything. I just felt numb all over and it felt as though my head was swimming. After a bit, I slowly turned around and looked sadly, wistfully, hopefully at the tree Hannah had been sitting in only moments before. There was no Hannah sitting there. There was nothing but blood splattered everywhere.

I quickly turned away in disgust. Hannah had died. One of my best friends in the whole world was dead; she was gone … never coming back. I couldn't stand it. It hurt so bad that I thought I would explode. I felt my stomach begin to churn and quickly leaned outward from the tree. The vomit fell through the limbs to the ground below and I leaned back in, pulling my knees to my chest.

Tears welled up in my eyes and flowed down my cheeks, making my vision blurry. How could this have happened? The lump in my throat was too big to hold down and I began to cry in uncontrollable sobs.

The thoughts in my head turned to all the fun times we had experienced together. Everything we had ever done seemed to flood back into my head. We had met in first grade and were friends right off the bat. We told each other everything. From the guy we liked to how we felt about our parents and siblings. She and I had both been friends with Eric in elementary school. But when he abandoned us in middle school, we both hated him. She had never been able to forgive him. She didn't want to forgive him.

Her screams haunted my memory and they suddenly seemed to ring through the air eerily. She had cried out … to me … for help. She had practically pleaded with me to help her, to save her from the oncoming danger. All I had done was run, nothing more. I had fled. I could have yelled to distract the dinosaur so that Hannah might have had time to climb higher in the tree and get a good grip. But had I? No. I had just sat there.

I couldn't breath. I couldn't think. I just sat in the tree, crying my eyes out, asking God over and over again why he had taken Hannah from me.

I thought of Tina … and Eric. Where were they now? Were they even alive? Was I alone on the island? There was no one I could run to, no one I could hide behind, as I had done my whole life. Tina and Hannah had been my shield I would hide behind. But where were they now? Well … I knew where Hannah was … but not Tina. Why was this happening? Why did God feel the need to punish me? What had I done to deserve this pain I was feeling?

**_

* * *

_**

Candy Saunters sighed and tucked her curly red hair behind her ear as she drummed on the table with her fingers. The door to the office opened and showed a middle-aged man with thinning black hair and sharp green eyes. He beckoned her to enter.

Candy quickly stood to her feet and followed the man into the office. He closed the door behind her and she took a seat in a green armchair in front of his desk, which he sat behind.

"How may I be of service today, Miss. Saunters?" he asked, folding his hands.

Candy cleared her throat, a bit nervous, and said: "Yes, Mr. Colander. See … well … there's a small matter regarding …"

"The boarding school's trip to Costa Rica?" asked Mr. Colander. "Yes, I've heard all about that. Very sad, isn't it? What a sorrowful incident."

Candy brightened up a bit. "Yes, it is very sad, Mr. Colander. Which is why I am here. Since you've heard, though, I suppose it isn't quite necessary …"

"What isn't quite necessary?" asked Mr. Colander.

"Well … I was coming to inform you, sir," said Candy. "So that you could get a rescue team as soon as possible. That island is –"

"I'm sorry then, Miss. Saunters," said Mr. Colander, sighing. "You have wasted your time."

"Wha - what do you mean?"

"I can hardly be bothered with something like this. Yes, I understand, this is rather unfortunate. But there is no sense in wasting our time over it."

Candy furrowed her brow. "I don't understand you, sir."

"Then let me tell you more clearly. We cannot risk anyone's life in sending him there to rescue the group. It was their own fault they were flying in restricted air space …"

"But, sir! They had expressed permission. Mr. Polycarp told me so! He even showed me the papers."

"Well, then that would be the Costa Rican government's problem. Not mine."

"I have the papers, here," said Candy, taking a few sheets of paper out of her handbag and handing them over to Mr. Colander.

He glanced over them for a few minutes and then handed them back. "It was a lost cause from the moment you walked in that door, Miss. Saunters. The papers clearly state that they have permission to fly over the island and at a low, yet still high altitude, yes. But it does say that if anything should happen and somehow they get stranded on the island, they would be in their own hands and the government won't have anything to do with it. They are on that island for good, Miss. Saunters."

"Surely there must be something you can do …"

"No, there is nothing. Now, I'm afraid you are wasting my time. Good-da-"

"I can't believe you're just going to leave them there on that island! Those children! You must do something! Isla Sorna is hardly the kind of place that have some compassion, will you!"

"MISS SAUNTERS! There is nothing I can and will do. **Good-day**."

Candy slowly and shakily got to her feet and turned towards the door. There, standing in the doorway, was an elderly man who was leaning on a cane. "Good-day. Miss. Saunters, is it? Yes. My name is John Hammond. I believe I can help you."

**_

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The dark clouds rolled over the sun, making my day even greyer than it had been before. I stumbled along the ground, not paying attention to where I went. There was no point in paying attention. Who was there for me? I was alone, utterly and completely.

The dead leaves crunched under my stumbling footfalls and branches seemed to be reaching for my legs, trying to bring me to the ground. The wound on my back stung with every turn and twist but I didn't try anything to stop it. I let it burn on. Several times I stumbled and fell to the ground. I didn't know why I got back up, but my body wouldn't listen to my brain any more. Not that I was telling it to do anything.

I stopped in a small clearing and sat down on a fallen log to cry. This time, sobs would not come to wrack my body. The lump in my throat I could not swallow, but I could not let it out, either. Tears fell silently down my cheeks. I stared at the trees about myself through blurry vision, not really even focusing on them.

_Hannah's gone. Hannah's gone. Hannah's gone. _I kept thinking this over and over. _Hannah's gone and she's not coming back. I'm never going to see her again. Hannah's gone. Hannah's gone. Hannah's gone …_

Suddenly, through the stillness and quiet of the darkening forest, a crack sounded. I wearily turned my head toward where the sound had come from. Though I couldn't see anything, I knew something had to be there. Blinking away my tears, I slowly slid off the log onto the hard, cold ground and pulled my knees to my chest. I didn't care if there was a dinosaur hiding in the bushes, waiting for the right moment to attack me. There was no point in me living any more. Hannah was gone, Tina was gone, Eric was gone …

A bird suddenly squawked rather loudly and flew away into the sky where the menacing dark clouds were rolling in. I followed it with my eyes, looking through my shoulder length, dark red hair that I had not bothered to put back in my ponytail.

A swift movement in the trees brought my attention away from the bird and back down to the earth where I saw a group of Raptors encircling me.

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**The Elfin Child**I am offended. You hath hit me over mine head and now thine shall pay by …little men in pink tights. Morning Sunrise Are you still alive? Your brain didn't kill you? … Hello! … Oh, sorry. Yeah, she's dead****

**Antiope** Yeah … sorry about that. But, as I said, SOMEONE has to die! It's just a matter of WHOM. Oh, thanks a bunch by saying that it was "as always, wonderful work". Means a lot to me.

**Amanda-bires** Ladies and gentlemen, we have another Trevor Morgan fan in our midst. Be warned. For they often carry around a big stick. But, yes, Eric … -sigh- JUST KIDDING! No, really … I … uh … ha … KEEP READING AND DON'T MIND ME!

**Mercedez Bemz **My goodness! No need for language, dear! To answer your question, yes, it was the Spinosaurous. You know … with the fin and junk. Yeah … hope you like this chapter!


	18. Ray the Raptor

**Author's Note: **Due to new rules set by FanFiction, I have removed the song lyrics an added a poem of my own.

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**Chapter Eighteen** - Ray the Raptor 

_Hannah was gone, Tina was gone, Eric was gone … of course, I didn't know if Tina and Eric were gone … but that's what I thought. I couldn't see any way that they had survived. _

_A bird suddenly squawked rather loudly and flew away into the sky where the menacing dark clouds were rolling in. I followed it with my eyes, looking through my shoulder length, dark red hair that I had not bothered to put back in my ponytail. _

_A swift movement in the trees brought my attention away from the bird and back down to the earth where I saw a group of Raptors encircling me._

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Istared blankly out at them, not surprised to detect no fear within myself. All I felt was the pain of losing my best friends and being alone in the world.

The Raptors were turning to one another and one of them was squawking orders to the rest. There were … maybe five of them. I didn't really count them, as I didn't care.

I sighed and lowered my head down to my knees. Why bother trying to get out of this one? Even if I had the will and wanted to, it would be impossible. They were too quick. Or I was too slow. One of the two.

I suddenly heard a loud thud and a crack. I looked up to see one of the Raptors had been hit on the head by … a rock. Yes, it was a rock. I saw it lying by its feet. And DARN it was big!

The Raptor's head was practically pouring blood. The other Raptors only had to glance at each other before they attacked the poor, defenseless creature. Sorry, did I say poor and defenseless? My bad.

They all jumped on top of it and began ripping it to pieces. I named the Raptor Ray. I had a thing with naming dead things … which I couldn't explain. At least I liked to name dead animals …

I felt something grab my arm and begin to drag me away. I didn't want to fight it. Well, I didn't personally know what it was, so I just "went with the flow", if you know what I mean.

It was only after the sky began to drop water (first in a mist, then in a "sprinkle", then in a "shower") that the thing dragging me, or pulling me along, rather, stopped. I slumped down onto the ground and rested my head on my knees.

I felt something wrap around me and looked down to see arms. Arms with blue sleeves. Human arms, if you didn't know. I felt something tickle my ear, then heard someone begin to hum a song. I recognized it as one of my favorites that I had listened to when I was feeling bad.

"Lately things have been so hard  
Can I hold your broken heart?  
All you can see is dark  
And lonely days ahead  
May I wipe the tears from your eyes?  
I can't bear to see you cry.  
Please give me your hand  
And I will take you to places unseen.  
Tell me your dreams.  
Let me hold you close  
And say I love you."

He stopped humming after the chorus (yes, I figured out it was a guy. Smart me).

I turned around to face him and sighed. It was so good to see him. I rested my head on his shoulder. "Hey, Eric," I said.

"Hey, Lane," he said, soothingly. "What's up?"

I sighed again and pulled back to look into his eyes. Such beautiful blue eyes that looked so concerned … for me. There was something else hidden in his eyes that I could not interpret. But it was deep, and it made me feel good.

He reached out and brushed my red hair, which was practically black it was so wet, out of my face and looked into my eyes. "You have really pretty green eyes, Lane," he said. "I've never noticed before."

I gave a weak smile and looked down at the ground. I felt tears begin to prick at my eyes. _No, not here, not now._ I couldn't cry in front of Eric. I couldn't show my fear. I had to be strong. I couldn't be weak.

"Lane," he said softly, gently taking my chin and raising it so that I would look at him. "What happened? Why were you acting like that back there?"

"You saw?" I croaked out.

"Yeah, I did. Who did you think threw that rock down from the tree?" said Eric. "By the way, where's Hannah?"

I winced and quickly looked down at the ground. Tears began to spill over and drip down my face.

"Oh my go – she die – Lane?" He stuttered. He tried to make me took at him again but I shook his hand off. I couldn't let him see me cry. But I just couldn't keep my sob in, either.

"Oh, Lane. I'm so, so sorry." He said. He pulled me into a hug. It felt so good; I couldn't believe it. It was just what I needed. Someone's shoulder to cry on. I didn't try to hold it in any more. I cried my eyes out. I cried through the rain (even when it was raining buckets and I couldn't tell whether it was tears or rain-drops falling down my face) until it softened to a quiet trickle. And all the while Eric held me.

I got one last sob out before I sniffed and pulled away, wiping my eyes. "Thanks," I murmured.

"Any time," he said, patting my shoulder.

I looked up at him and sighed, smiling.

We sat in silence, both avoiding each other's eyes.

"But how could you do that to sweet, innocent Ray!" I suddenly exclaimed, turning to Eric. We needed _something _to lighten the mood!

"Ex-excuse me?" He looked at me like I was a ghost or something.

I wrinkled up my nose and squinted my eyes. "Ray? Ray the Raptor?"

He still looked puzzled.

"The one that you so mercilessly dropped the so called rock on!"

He smiled. "Oh, that Ray. Sorry. I _totally _forgot."

I stood up quickly, Eric following suit, thinking that I had seen a dinosaur.

"I mean," I continued. "Had he done anything to you? Why should you go killing him?"

"Well … he was going to eat you," Eric explained.

"Oh, I don't give a crud what he was going to do. He has just as much right as the next person, you – you – animal abuser, you!" And with that, I shoved him into a great big muddy puddle. Weee! That was fun! I had always wanted to push someone into a puddle. And having no particular reason to made it even MORE fun!

He sat up, coughing and sputtering. He shook his head to get some of the mud … water … junk off and said, "Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to … Ralph."

"RAY!" I exclaimed, exasperated.

"Right, right. Ray," Eric said. "Sorry."

"Darn right you are," I said, crossing my arms. "Now come out of that puddle. You're an absolute mess and you'll just catch a dreadful cold." Boy; I was sounding more like my mother every day…

"Fine then," Eric said. "Help me up."

I let out an exasperated sigh and reached down to pull him out of the puddle. And, of course, we all know what happened next. Uh-huh. That's right. CASPLOOSH! (If you couldn't tell, that's the sound of someone falling into water)!

Now it was MY turn to come up coughing and sputtering. "ERIC!" I exclaimed, whacking him up-side the head. "What the heck did you do that for!"

He shrugged. "It was just too perfect an opportunity."

After this followed an uncomfortable silence. I guess we were both thinking about Hannah. He had known her for about as long as I had, and before he turned all … popular … they had been best friends.

I didn't want to think about her, though. It didn't feel good and my past lighthearted moment was slowly being wiped away. So I said, "But how could you do that to poor Ray!"

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**Author's Note**There we go. I'm really glad this one didn't take me as long to write as my others. I just knew what I was going to write so I sat down and wrote it. Hope you liked it!

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**The Elfin Child **OH – MY – GOSH! You … you … YOU KILLED HIM! His fans will not be please about this, they won't. Nope, nope. Not in the least bit. –

**Amandabires **-sends some cake- There you go! Well … Lane actually has straight hair. I kind of feel bad when I give my characters curly hair because I know what it's like and I don't want them to have to deal with it so … yeah. Sorry. But her hair IS cut in a way that it frames her face, bringing out her eyes. --

**Lauren **IT'S C-I-A-O!

**Flutterby **Whelp, here's another cookie for you. And I hope that you found what you were looking for (at least a bit) in this chapter. -wink, wink-


	19. The Hot Springs

**Author's Note: **Thank you guys _so _much for all the reviews, support, and advice that I have gotten. I love you guys so much!

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**Chapter Nineteen -The Hot Springs**

As Eric and I reached the part of the tree where the limbs really began to branch out, we stopped climbing. "Hold on," Eric said, walking (if you could call it that) away through the branches that were sticking up towards the heavens.

It had stopped raining and the clouds were just beginning to clear, letting in a few leaks of sunlight. The day seemed like the longest day I had ever lived in my life.

I sat down on a nearby branch, resting my tired legs. I had done quite a bit of work today. Running, running, and running. Did I forget to mention running? There were also my clothes now covered in mud, which made them rather heavy. Not to mention all the trees I had been required to climb. Could this day get any worse?

I sighed and looked down through the limbs at the ground below. My eyes traveled over to the spot where Ray (the Raptor) had been killed. I couldn't see any blood or anything anywhere. Not the slightest hint that some animal had just been brutally slaughtered.

I smiled, remembering how I had pushed Eric so easily into the mud. Dude, he was so muscular that I didn't know how – but I must have caught him by surprise. I mean; he was totally not expecting it. But he was actually kind of buff and – WAIT! Back the truck up. How could I think that Eric was buff? He wasn't really that cute … ok, well, he was cute. But not hot. I mean – well … see – um …

"Lane?"

I looked up. Eric was standing right in front of me with a burlap sack slung over one shoulder and a roll of rope looped around the other.

"What's that for?" I asked, pointing to the rope.

"Oh, well, remember back on Costa Rica when – " He said.

"Don't remind me. I should never have come on this stupid trip. Nothing would have happened. I mean, we'd still … there wouldn't be … Hannah wouldn't … What's it for?" I asked. I couldn't see anyway to take my mind off of Hannah but to listen to Eric.

"O…k. Well, remember when we did archery?" He questioned.

I brightened up and stood to my feet. "Help me find a bendy stick sort of thingy," I said, dashing past him and grabbing at sticks.

"What for?" Eric asked, mockingly.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, bring my hand to my chin. "Maybe it would be … **for my bow!**"

"Well you catch onto an idea quickly," he teased.

I merely rolled my eyes and turned back to look at the variety of sticks I had to choose from. Bendy, non-bendy … uh … Well that about summed them up. Eric would show me tons of sticks but I would either say they were too bendy or too … non-bendy. One time I heard him muttering something about honestly thinking I knew all there was to know about archery … or something like that.

"What about _this _one!" Eric said, sighing and handing me a stick.

I turned from my cluster of four or five twig looking things way at the top of the tree and snatched the branch from his hand. I scanned it with my eyes and felt it with my hands. I gently bent it, then, with a swift movement, brought it down on my knee. It broke with a loud snap. "Nope," I said, smiling and handing the two pieces of wood back to him. "Not bendy enough."

Eric sighed and turned to climb back down the tree.

"Eric, wait," I said. He turned to look at me and I got an odd feeling in my stomach, so looked away. "You're allowed to talk back, you know."

"I don't feel like talking," he snapped. This startled me and I looked swiftly down at him, looking him in the eyes. "You just brutally murdered Bertha the Branch. How shall I ever forgive you?"

I laughed and waved him off, turning back to my own set of branches, shaking my head.

A few minutes later, Eric came back with yet another branch. This one, however, I did not try to break on my knee. It was too perfect to do such a thing to. After examining it for a few minutes, I looked up at Eric. "That'll do, donkey. That'll do."

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We were walking back to the water truck (finally ending our long day "abroad", or so I thought) when a very revolting smell reached my nostrils. I quickly brought my hand to my nose, plugging out the pungent odor. "Ew!" I exclaimed. "What the heck is that smell!"

"It's the hot springs, one of the safest places on the island," Eric said, continuing to walk without plugging his nose.

"Ew, gross. How can you stand that smell?" I exclaimed.

Eric laughed. At first I didn't know what at, then I realized I had been talking while plugging up my nose. My voice sounded rather odd.

"And why, may I ask, is it one of the safest places?" I questioned, _after_ I stopped plugging up my nose and just opted to not _breath_ through my nose.

"You have no idea?" He asked mockingly.

"The smell?" I teased.

"Exactly," he answered.

"You have to be joking."

Eric shook his head. "Nope," was all he said.

"Then why are we not living here instead of the stupid water truck?" I exclaimed.

"The smell, for one thing, is practically impossible to get used to. I should know. I tried to live in here last year when I was here for eight weeks. Didn't work. I could only stand four days of it. After that, I had a headache the size of Canada and the smell made me want to throw up. AND I was in great need of food and tired of being wet from all the mist. You can only stand the place for a certain amount of time." He explained.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to follow him through the trees, all the while the smell getting stronger and stronger. "I had no idea these things stank this bad," I coughed out.

Eric chuckled. "They don't. Usually." And he left it at that.

I didn't really want to question him further, so I continued following his tracks, trying to place my mind on anything BESIDES the smell. I was so preoccupied at keeping the smell out that I didn't notice when Eric stopped … and I ran right into him (I seemed to do this a lot). "Ow," I said, rubbing my head. I was only about five feet, six inches tall and he was about six feet tall … or so. That meant that I had hit my forehead on … his back. Yeah …

"We're here," Eric said, not paying attention to me. He pushed through some vines with _huge_ leaves on them (they were about the size of my torso!) and … so did I. We were standing in an odd-looking cave thing. The rock walls made it look like we were inside of a huge, brown ice cream. That pattern swirled around all the way up to the somewhat pointed top. There was a patio looking thing made out of rock to the left of the small, bubbling pool of water. It looked as though there was a light in the water, casting odd reflections on the wall. A small stream of water ran down the side of the rock, pouring into the clear pool. The whole place was rather warm and a thick mist filled the small room. The farther side of the cave was covered in shadow. The smell was even stronger inside.

"You want to go first?" Eric asked.

I tore my eyes from the pool and looked at him queerly. "What?"

"You don't want to smell like that all the time, do you?" He teased, flicking a bit of mud off my shoulder.

I smiled and blushed, looking down at my feet. My face was so covered in mud, however, that I doubted he could see the pink tinge in my cheeks. "Yeah, uh, I guess. Sure."

Eric smiled and began to walk back out the way we came in.

"**And you're sure there's nothing living in here?" **I called after him. He only laughed and walked the rest of the way out.

"Don't take too long," he said.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. What a stupid thing to say to a girl. 'Don't take too long.' How the heck was I supposed to not take too long?

I looked over my shoulder at the vines to make sure Eric was outside. Hardly any light was coming through the tightly packed leaves.

I slipped by shoes off and, just to play it safe, I eased my way into the hot water BEFORE I bothered to take off my torn shirt (which I was sure wouldn't make dress code at school any more) and skirt, both caked in mud.

At first, the hot water made the large gash on my back and the smaller one on my arm sting, but this soon ebbed away. I sucked in some air and let myself fall to the bottom of the small pool, where it seemed that the bubbles were just coming out of the rock. It felt so good on my tired body; I couldn't believe it. I felt as though I could just fall asleep right there and never wake up. Like Eric had said, this was one of the only safe areas on the island.

After I had soaked for a bit, I scrubbed my clothes down to get most of the grime out of them and placed them on the dry rock "patio" so that they could dry a bit before I put them back on.

I swam around for a little while, but mostly I just relaxed, knowing that I wouldn't be able to do much of this for however much longer we would be remaining on the island.

I had nearly fallen asleep, floating on the top of the water, when I sensed someone else was in the room. My eyes flew open and I saw Eric leaning over me. His face looked concerned.

"AH!" I screamed, slapping him on the face and pulling all but my head under the water. "Eric, don't DO that! You scared me half to death! I'm in my underwear, you pervert!"

Eric grinned. "Well sue me for being concerned," he teased. "Hurry up. The sun's going to go down soon and I don't particularly want to walk back in the dark." With that, he got up to leave, but just before he reached the vines he said, "By the way, your clothes are dry." And with that, he walked out.

I let out a deep sigh and pulled my self out of the water, wiped the little beads of moisture off myself, and pulled my clothes on. My stupid shirt came up about three inches above my belly button in the front and even higher in the back. It sloped down from the right to the left.

Shaking my head, I took my wet red hair out of its ponytail (though not much was still in it) and put it back up, a few strands in the front and back falling out. I gently moved my hand over the gash in my back. It was still a huge scab.

I walked out through the vines and saw Eric leaning against a tree right outside, staring absent-mindedly at the vines. He stood up straight when I walked out. I rolled my eyes and waved him in.

As he entered, I walked over to the tree he had been leaning against and looked out at the trees. I couldn't see any life (except for plants and smaller growth) around. There wasn't a bird in sight. '_I guess Eric was right_' I thought.

Sighing, I turned back around to look at the vines and nearly choked when I saw that they weren't nearly as thick as I had thought they were from the inside. I could see Eric taking off his shirt! Wow, like I wanted to see THAT! I couldn't see it real clearly, which I was very happy about. But, boy he looked buff. I never thought he looked that strong. I crept over to the vines to get a better look. Luckily, he went into the water with his "shorts" on. They were really only his white slacks he had chopped off till just below his knees. Or … wherever they were chopped off at.

But what I didn't know was that I wasn't the only one watching Eric.

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**Author's Note: **Was this chapter ok? Because I personally thought it was a bit sappy.

_Please read and review!_

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**The Elfin Child **Oh … well … A-class then. At first I thought it was A-crad … then I thought that A-clad sounded better.

**Shooting Star **Hey, thanks for the pat on the back. Makes me feel … special, **as do all of my reviews! **

**Amandabires **It was really that romantic? Wow, I'm better at this mushy stuff than I thought. IT'S MUSHY WHEN I DON'T TRY TO MAKE IT MUSHY! Well … I was going for a tad, but one of my beta readers says otherwise.

**Lauren **Once again, it's spelled, C – I – A – O, but pronounced "chow". Not that you'll listen to me … but, yes. It was funny, wasn't it?

**Like I'd tell u **I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! So, tell me, are you proud to be short? Or are you short to be proud? –

**Morning sunrise **I hate it when computers do that. It's not cool. But, sorry, I don't think that Lane will be feeding Eric to a dinosaur any time soon.


	20. Sharp Sticks and Blunt Words

**Author's Note**: Okay, I might as well tell you that you'll find out about the cliffhanger from the last chapter later. Please don't hurt me!

Oh yeah, GUESS WHAT! I came up with an idea for a sequel. Pretty cool, huh?

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**Chapter Twenty - Sharp Sticks and Blunt Words**

As Eric opened the hatch to the water truck, I looked out over the trees, up into the now clear sky, and saw the radiant colors of a sunset.

I smiled and reached out to grab Eric and make him look, but he got me first and pulled me into the truck, swinging me down onto the bed and turning the lamp on.

"ERIC!" I exclaimed. "I was looking at the sunset, you dork!"

He just gave me a cold stare and began emptying his bag.

I furrowed my brow, hoping that Eric was just playing around and showing off his good acting skills, but I had a feeling he wasn't. To take my mind off the hard look he had just given to me, I took the rope off my shoulder from where it had been slung and pulled my long stick thingy onto my lap. "Do you have a knife for me to cut … junk with?" I asked Eric.

"No," he said shortly, still going through his 'collection'.

I sighed, and began to tie the rope around the stick. Well, it was more some sort of thick twine, but rope was pretty much just the same. I tied it in a tight knot on one end or the branch and forcefully pulled it to the other, making the stick bend in a large arch to look, and perform more like a bow. I tied the other end of the twine on the stick and grabbed the bandage on my arm, pulling it off. The skin underneath instantly cooled as the air hit the sweaty skin. Even though the gash on my arm had been bad, it looked better.

I took the bandage and rapped it around the twine in the middle, tying it tightly. It was a good place to protect my hand from the rope, which could be sharp at times.

I lifted my new bow up and practiced pulling it back. It wasn't professional, that's for sure, but it was better than anything else.

"I'm going to need some arrows," I said to myself, knowing very well that Eric wouldn't be interested.

A few minutes later, a "new" tin of beans had been forced into my hands, along with my spoon. "Eat quickly," Eric said. "We're wasting battery."

I obeyed and five minutes later, the lamp was turned off and we were settling into our beds. Eric had the floor this night. Maybe that's what was bothering him. But it had never bothered him before…

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_I was running through the forest, a dense fog pressing in on all sides. The foliage was so thick I could hardly squeeze my way through it. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I knew that I had to keep going. The fog seemed to get thicker and thicker as I ran until I could hardly see my hand if I waved it two inches away from my nose. Panting heavily, I stopped in my tracks and cried out, "Help! Someone! Anyone! Help!"_

_"Lane! Shut up!" I heard distantly._

I opened my eyes quickly. It had been a dream. Nothing but a dream. Eric was standing over me, his brown hair sticking out all over the place. It looked rather comical, but his face didn't. It looked stern and unfeeling. Even his eyes seemed kind of empty. But the one thing that I had not been able to interpret the other day, the thing that had been hidden well, deep within his eyes, but not enough, still seemed to be there, and it seemed to be stronger. "Shut up!" he said. "You're going to attract something!"

"Sorry," I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. Eric's bed things had been cleared away, but this hardly made the box-covered, rusty piece of junk seem any cleaner. The hatch was open, letting in a steady stream of light.

Eric pulled the blankets off the bed and stuffed them in the back of the water truck, then came back out, sighing and crossing his arms over his chest.

I grinned broadly when I saw how funny his hair looked. Sticking out all over the place, it reminded me of how 'Harry Potter's' hair was supposed to look … only black. I reached out my hand and tried to brush a clump down that looked oddly like a horn.

Eric's eyes lit up, but a mask quickly came back over them and he shook my hand off. He combed his fingers hurriedly through his hair and walked over to the hatch. "Bring your bow. We have to make some arrows today or else the stupid thing will be worthless."

I picked the bow up off the floor, slung it over my shoulder, and followed Eric out of the truck. Somehow, I had a feeling that today wasn't going to go over too well.

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I slowly sharpened a long, thin stick on the sharp edge of a rock while watching Eric do the same … only he was going fast. His pile of newly made arrows was probably three times the size of mine, but he didn't urge me to go any faster. In fact, Eric had hardly even spoken to me since the morning. I could probably count the words he had said. It was kind of depressing and perplexing. Why was Eric so … distant? It almost seemed like he was avoiding me, like he was mad at me … or something. Maybe he was mad at me for watching him in the hot springs the other night? No … that couldn't be it … could it? 

And then there was the fact that he had never asked me what kind of dinosaur had eaten Hannah. I mean; it was hard to think about her, yes; for me at least. But I wouldn't think it would affect Eric this badly. I was putting on a good show and masking my feelings. Why couldn't he? He didn't know her nearly as well. Had he liked her? That was a possibility. But did he think that it was my fault?

I looked over at him. It looked as though he was trying to take his feelings out on the poor sticks. It only took him about ten seconds to make an arrow, one that would pierce your skin easily, and even more if you shot it from the bow.

He hadn't acted _anything_ like this the day before. He had acted almost … almost affectionate. Why would he be acting like this?

I sighed and slumped down on the ground, letting my unfinished arrow balance for a few seconds on one end before it fell onto the stack of my finished arrows. Eric glanced over at me, stopping on his own arrow for a second. "I'm hot," I explained, wiping the back of my hand across my forehead.

It really was rather hot outside, even in the shade. I couldn't believe how humid it was. It felt as though the air was pressing in on me from all sides. I could feel the beads of sweat rolling down my body in nearly every place imaginable. Funny thing, sweat is. It's supposed to make you cooler, but at this time in my life, it only seemed to be adding to my body temperature. There was not a breeze in the air, and on the rare occasion that there was, it was very warm and not in the least bit refreshing. What I would give for a safe place to go swimming in a nice cool pool and have some ice-cold lemonade to sip on.

I let my head fall onto my knees and looked down at my skirt. Yesterday, it had looked almost clean. I mean, you could tell that it wasn't; the white looked a bit … off white. But already, it was beginning to get dirt smudged all over it. I guess there was just no way you were going to keep anything clean here.

I sat there for a long time, finally drifting off into a doze. I mean, I was sleeping … in a way; but I also wasn't sleeping. You know? All the while, I was waiting for Eric to come shake me awake and tell me to get back to work, or wrap his arms around me and we'd just sit there, him thinking this was about Hannah. But he didn't. In fact, he didn't come up to me until late in the afternoon when he needed my help filling the sacks with the arrows.

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**Author's Note: **Okay, sorry this was so short and everything, but I know what I'm going to write in the next chapter … mostly. Again, sorry that you didn't find out who … or what… was watching Eric from the last chapter, but you probably will in the next one. 

Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are fantastic. Without you, I don't think I would have gotten this far in the story. Mahalo! (That means 'thank you' in Hawaiian, for those who wanted to know.)

PLEASE REVIEW!

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**Lauren **To answer your question, no, I have not seen TREVOR MORGAN with his shirt off … but I've seen Eric. Oh my GOSH I'm kidding. Man, what do you take me for? I'm just developing my character, here. Besides, my reviewers … or some of them … seem to like this mushy junk.

**The Elfin Child **Sorry, but I'm not going to tell you if it was Tina or not. But, yes, I would shake my fist at her as well. And as my sister, you've got to wait like ALL the other pretty little reviewers to see if they're going to end up "together".

**Shooting Star **Yup, it was the most romantic. Might stay that way, too. Hey, I said MIGHT people! Gosh, get all mad at me for saying something like that. Who do you think you are? My … sorry, sorry. I'll stop now. Oh, yeah, you're welcome for the Trevor Morgan pic. They were askin for it, so I sent it. -shrugs-

**Jack Kelly's Lady **YAY! -cheers loudly- ANOTHER HOMESCHOOLER! I like you. Ok, A-CRAT THEN! Golly. Am I EVER going to get this right? But, A-crat makes sense.

**Morning Sunrise **ERROR. NO MESSAGE WAS LEFT FOR THIS REVIEWER, DUE TO COMMENT ABOUT LAST CHAPTER BEING SICK AND FORGETTING THE AUTHORS NAME. SHAME ON YOU!

**Antiope **COOL! Can I wiggle my eyebrows with you? … YES! -wiggles eyebrows- WEEEEEE! That was fun! Uh … you'll just have to drive yourself crazy some more, then, cuz you aren't finding out yet.

**SWJPanimefreak **I CURSED? WHERE! -mouth hangs open in silent scream- … Wow … did I sound paranoid or what? Or … um … never mind.

**Mione Malfoy **Wow. That was deep. … Just kidding. Thanks for reviewing!


	21. Flashback

**Author's Note: **Ok, I know the last chapter was a bit confusing because you didn't really understand why Eric was acting the way he was, but this has a pretty major part in the story, so … yeah. According to **morning sunrise, **why he's being like that makes sense.

**_

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**Chapter Twenty-One Flashback**

I wasn't really sure if it was a week or a month that passed, but pretty sure that it had been a month. After a while, I lost track of the days; they all seemed to go by so slowly. All I knew was that life on the island was not fun. Running had never been one of my strong points, and it still wasn't, even though it was required to come into play several times. The only way that I could really estimate how much time had passed was by the physical changes. Eric's hair seemed to be longer by at least an inch, but I couldn't really tell on mine. It appeared as though I had lost some weight and was now looking rather in shape.

Through the whole time, Eric seemed to be giving me the cold shoulder, and it wasn't just my imagination. There had to be a reason … but I couldn't find it. The only time he softened up was during that one _very_ irritating part of the month that every stupid girl has to go through some time in her life; and in these circumstances, it was not only painful, but embarrassing as well. This was another way that I could tell time was passing. We had at least been there for three weeks, but probably longer.

So, honestly, though I didn't have a clue how long we had been there, I estimated it had been around one month, maybe longer.

I was sitting in the water truck, waiting for Eric to return from … using the restroom … when I heard him yell. Or, at least, I thought it was he. Quickly, I grabbed my bow and a quiver of arrows (yes, we had been productive), slung them over my right shoulder (where my gash was no more than a scar now), and poked my head out of the hatch. I scanned the area surrounding our "home" for a sign of anything … unusual, but could see nothing. Slowly and carefully, I stepped out of the truck, climbed down onto the desk, silently hopped onto the half imbedded truck, and stepped onto the leaf-strewn ground. I ran over to the safety of a tree and peered around. Then I remembered I hadn't closed the hatch. I quickly looked back over to it and sighed in relief. Eric was just climbing back in and a few seconds later, his head popped back out. I gave a sharp whistle to catch his attention, then waved him over.

Just as silently and as quickly as I had done, he came over to my side. "Did you hear that yell?" he questioned in a barely audible whisper.

Nodding, I looked around. It had sounded like a guy; that was for sure. But I had no idea who it had been.

Eric and I made our way through the trees, making no noise that our ears could hear. As we walked, we kept our eyes peeled for anything … unusual. There wasn't anything that appeared strange for what seemed like miles, for that was how far it felt we crept. The only noise that we ever heard was the twittering of birds and the occasional crunch of a leaf we would tread upon.

"Pst!" I suddenly heard. I looked all around but could see no one.

"Lane! Eric!"

I whipped my head around, searching for the person who had called for us. Eric tugged on my arm and pointed up into the trees. I looked up and saw perched in the branches, Brad Kim. He was Sally Grude's boyfriend. I could tell that he wasn't in that great of shape. His normally neat blonde hair wasn't short any more but rather long and frizzy. His blue eyes no longer looked relaxed but bloodshot and panic stricken. His white slacks were in shreds past his knees and he was no longer wearing his blue uniform shirt.

Eric and I quickly ran over to the tree he was perched in and climbed it faster than we'd climbed a tree in ages. I was the first to reach Brad, and though we hadn't gotten along one bit in school, when I reached him, we gave each other a great bit hug. It felt so good to get a hug; I hadn't had one or given one in ages. Once I pulled away, Eric and Brad exchanged their little … "manly hug" thing that guys do. It was the first time I'd seen Eric smile since … a long time.

"Dude, man, I can't believe you're alive!" Eric exclaimed.

"Neither can I," Brad said croakily. It sounded as though he hadn't talked in a while. "What have you two been up to?"

Well, I think I was allowed to laugh here, don't you think? I mean, we're stranded on an island 207 miles away from Costa Rica and the island is infested with genetically engineered dinosaurs that are trying to eat you. Don't you think I should have been allowed to laugh? But Brad only scowled at me. I rolled my eyes and answered him, "Brad; think about it. We're on an island full of dinosaurs. What do you _think_ we've been doing?"

Brad gave me a sort of rusty grin.

"Come on, dude," Eric said. "We'll take you back to our place. Get you some food."

We lead Brad down the tree and crept through the forest. I was very relieved that he was just as silent as we were.

It was a miracle, really, that we had found Brad. If I had been alone with Eric one more day I swear I would have gone nuts. It's one thing to have no one around so you don't have anyone to talk to; it's another when you've got a cute guy around and no one to talk to. It gets very depressing after the first few days and lasting what seems like a month with hardly a kind word is nothing short of torture.

Brad seemed to be very impressed with our water-truck that we liked to call home and he ate nearly a whole can of beans. He told us he had been living off all sorts of things. Some of the things sounded _extremely_ disgusting. Things like picking carcasses clean before the buzzards got there or rummaging through what other dinosaurs had left behind didn't suit me. Which was why I was glad when Eric said that we should go to bed and stop wasting the battery in our lantern.

Though it was my turn, I offered the bed to Brad. He turned it down, however. He said he was used to sleeping on something hard and wouldn't take the bed away from a lady. I blushed and hit Eric on the arm when he laughed.

**_

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_**

_I was running through the forest, a dense fog pressing in on all sides. The foliage was so thick I could hardly squeeze my way through it. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I knew that I had to keep going. The fog seemed to get thicker and thicker as I ran until I could hardly see my hand if I waved it two inches away from my nose. Panting heavily, I stopped in my tracks and cried out, "Help! Someone! Anyone! Help!"_

_But a booming ahead of me silenced my cries and I stood, rooted to the spot. Something was coming through the mist. And it was a large something. A huge, dark form walking slowly towards me._

I woke up with a start. It had been the same dream as before, only it had gone on just a bit longer. I had been having this dream what seemed like every night for about a month. But I had always woken up as I began crying for help. Why was the same dream haunting me?

I looked around the water truck and saw that it was day. The hatch was open and sunlight was pouring into the musty room. I sat up and looked around. Neither Eric, nor Brad was in side. They wouldn't leave me here alone, would they? I could have been attacked while I was sleeping! _What jerks! _I thought fiercely. _How could they be so inconsiderate? _

I stood up, stuffed the blankets on a shelf furiously, and pulled myself out of the hatch. I looked around and saw Brad and Eric sitting on top of the truck, gazing up at the trees. "What the heck are you two doing?" I whispered harshly.

"There's the sleepy head," Brad teased, grinning down at me. "Have a nice sleep? Nice dreams?"

I glared at him and went back down into the water truck. What the heck did they think they were doing? Sitting out in the open like that. Any dinosaur could come a long a pluck them right up, not that I cared at the moment. It would almost be a relief to get away from Eric and I had never really like Brad. I heard Eric begin to talk and so I stopped to listen.

"She's been having these dreams lately," Eric explained to Brad. "I just let her sleep."

"What are the dreams about?" Brad asked.

"I don't know," Eric said.

"Why not?" Brad questioned.

"What do you mean, why not?" Eric asked.

"Well … you like her, don't you?" Brad asked.

Wow; that was unexpected. There was a pause and then Eric said, "I think I'm going to go down and look at our stock of food. We might need more now that you're here."

I hurried away from the hatch, not wanting Eric to think that I had been eavesdropping. Eric came down into the water-truck, paused, then went to look at our boxes of food. I looked over at him. Though I thought he had looked buff before, he looked more so now. I guess climbing trees really can keep you in better shape. I looked down at my own legs and saw that they no longer looked overweight but pleasantly thin and strong.

Eric straightened up and, after a few seconds, walked over to me. "We're going to need more food," he said, making sure not to look me in the eye.

"Oh," I said. "I'll get my bow, then, shall I?" I started to walk past him, but he stopped me.

"I think it might – it might be better if I went alone." He said.

"What!" I exclaimed.

Eric hushed me, then went on to explain, "Well, you know what happened last time. We nearly died! I don't want that to happen again."

"Well you're doing a heck of a job pretending that you want me dead!" I practically screamed. With this, I pushed past him, climbed out the hatch, hopped onto the desk, then the truck, and went off to find a tree to climb.

It wasn't the best move, going out alone without a weapon. But I made it to the top of a tree unscathed and plopped down to have a good hard cry. I couldn't hold it in any more. Eric had been so mean to me for the past weeks. I didn't give a darn what his reasons were because he had been extremely hurtful. Some of the things he had said … one time, when nerves were running high, he had even accused me of being the cause of Hannah's death. I could still remember it …

----------- Flashback-----------

"_You think I'm being unfair!" Eric yelled. "Just look at what you did to Hannah. Was that fair!"_

_"ME!" I screamed. "I didn't do anything to Hannah! If anything, I tried to save her, which put myself in danger as well!"_

_"What was it then, huh?" he exclaimed. "A bloody brachiosaurus!"_

_"I don't know what it was, ok! Why are you being so mean?"_

_"We wouldn't BE in this mess if it wasn't for you!"_

_"Oh, so now it's MY fault we're stranded on this island! Last I heard, Mr. Polycarp was assuring us we would be fine because we would have an 'expert' along with us. I can only presume he meant you. You've been obsessed with dinosaurs since the first time I saw you."_

_"What has THAT got to do with anything?"_

_"Oh, yeah, Eric. This has NOTHING to do with your stupid obsession with those ruddy creatures down there. Because the last time I checked, they were the ones who killed Hannah, NOT ME!"_

----------- End flashback -----------

I sniffed and rested my head on my knees. That was only one out of the many arguments we had had. They were times when Eric had really spoken to me in what could be classified as real sentences. He was being a big poop head for no reason.

"Hey," someone hissed in my ear.

I screamed, stood up, and whipped around. Brad was crouching right behind where I had been sitting with a smirk on his face. "Something wrong, pumpkin?"

"No, Bradley; everything's just fine and dandy." And with that, I turned and began to climb down.

"You'd think you would be a bit more considerate towards someone who had housed you and taken care of you for the past two months," he called after me.

I whirled around and stomped over to him. I was pleased to see that he recoiled a bit, probably in fear. "Oh he took me in, did he? Took care of me, did he? He's been such a jerk for the past month I'm starting to think I would have liked it better if he'd never found me! All he's done is not talk to me or yell at me, accusing me of things such as my best friend's death! Oh, yeah, it's only been about a month. I'm a girl; I should know."

I turned and began climbing down the tree.

"Man, you _stink_!" Brad called down after me.

"Well you don't smell so good yourself," I called up to him. When I reached the bottom of the tree, I turned and stomped away in the direction of the hot springs. It was the only safe place that I could think of to get away from the two creeps. I still couldn't see why Eric was being so stupidly mean. Brad had always been like that, so he wasn't bothering me that much. I knew Eric hadn't been that bad today … maybe it was because Brad was there. I didn't know. But _man_ I was getting _so_ annoyed at him. I felt as though I might go insane if he kept this up.

I began to smell the hot springs. Wow; it smelt worse than I remembered. At least here I could be alone.

I finally came to the springs. It looked like a large black boulder. I walked around it until I found the entrance and pushed my way through the vines and into the small space. It looked just as it had before. Like a hot tub with a patio and a waterfall on the rock wall opposite it.

I yanked my shoes and socks off, slipped my clothes off and threw them into the water. "Honestly," I said to myself. "Those two will be the end of my sanity. If Eric doesn't start talking to me, I'm going to go insane, I know I will. And there's that stupid jerk who had to show up yesterday. Gosh, if anything, Brad is just going to –"

But I never got to finish because at that moment, someone said, "You know where Brad is!" I whirled around and saw someone stepping out of the shadows.

**_

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_**

**The Elfin Child **HAHA! Oh my word, I laughed SO hard when you said, "ERIC'S BEING A BUTT!" That was_so_ funny! HAHA – ouch, my side hurts.

**Morning sunrise **Nope, sorry, didn't say in the chapter … but I told you anyways. You're so good at weaseling things out of me!

**Dumb pixie **Um … how, exactly, was that a cliffhanger? And how can you expect me to update EVERY day?

**Beautyqueen321 **You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only17, feel the beat from the – haha, sorry. There'll be more romance, but later.

**Take a wild guess **You have a problem with logging in, don't you, shortandproud? You're odd. Thanks for the happy b-day!

**Amandabires **haha – no.

**Antiope **Honey, you're good.


	22. The Venting of Feelings

**Chapter Twenty-two - The Venting of Feelings**

_I finally came to the springs. It looked like a large black boulder. I walked around it until I found the entrance and pushed my way through the vines and into the small space. It looked just as it had before. Like a hot tub with a patio and a waterfall on the rock wall opposite it._

_I yanked my shoes and socks off, slipped my clothes off and threw them into the water. "Honestly," I said to myself. "Those two will be the end of my sanity. If Eric doesn't start talking to me, I'm going to go insane, I know I will. And there's that stupid jerk that had to show up yesterday. Gosh, if anything, Brad is just going to –" _

_But I never got to finish because at that moment, someone said, "You know where Brad is!" I whirled around and saw someone stepping out of the shadows._

I gasped and stepped back a step. The person came fully out of the shadows and into the light. At first, I didn't recognize who the person was, but then it hit me. "Sally!" I said, hardly believing it. Her once beautiful, healthy face was sunken; her clothes were in rags and were no longer tightly clinging to her body but hanging loosely.

"You know where Brad is!" she asked again; and this time I heard how scratchy her voice was. Her eyes looked big and scared. I nodded. Her eyes grew a bit bigger. "Where is he? Can you take me to him?"

"Um …" I wasn't in any kind of mood to go back to those jerks.

"Take me to him, gosh darn it!" She screamed.

I sighed. "Ok, hold on. Let me get my clothes back on." I jumped into the water, staying under longer than necessary, trying to rid my body of the stench it had been acquiring over the past … I don't know … month? I didn't know how the springs made me smell better since they smelled so bad … but I don't think it was the water that was sending off the stench.

Ten minutes later (after I had insisted that Sally ring out my clothes and let them dry for a bit), Sally and I were walking through the forest, leaving the stench of the hot springs behind. I tried to talk to Sally about what she had been doing and how she had survived, but she only really wanted to talk about Brad. She made me relive how we had found him and what had happened in great detail at least twenty times. I left out some of the personal parts but she didn't seem to notice.

What I got out of her was that she had been sleeping in the hot springs and only venturing out to get away from the smell and the overwhelming humidity during the day. I couldn't find out anything beyond that.

By the time we were done grilling each other, we had walked out of the "hot spring circle" and began to hear birds chirping and distant dinosaur roars again. It was here that I hushed Sally and we continued quietly. We reached the water truck unscathed but I couldn't see a soul in sight. We gently hopped from car to desk, then I opened the hatch, letting Sally climb in before I did so myself.

The water truck seemed empty at first. But then a voice came from the shadows. "Sally!"

Sally (much to my discomfort) screamed and ran over to her boyfriend, hugging him tightly and kissing him over and over again. Yuck! I closed the hatch to try and stop some of the sound getting to the dinosaurs and switched on the lantern.

So, after the hugs and kisses came Sally's crying and Brad saying "Shhhh!" over and over again. Then came the non-stop laughing. Next the "I love you"s. Then _finally_ they got to the stories about what had happened to them, even though practically every ten seconds they would say that; "I was thinking about you and I missed you so much and I felt like dying because we weren't together but now I'm happy I didn't because we're both fine and together again!" Honestly, if Eric hadn't come back right then, I would have strangled both of them, I swear.

"Sally!" was the first thing he said when he came in.

Sally turned to him and glared at him, though I could see her looking him up and down. I grinned. "Eric," she said coldly.

Eric gave her a little smile and raised his eyebrows. "Good thing I got more food," he said to no one in particular.

* * *

Sally got the bed for the night and I guessed that she would get it most of the time now that she was here. A month of being alone on the island didn't seem to have changed her personality. For better or for worse. She still treated Eric either like dirt or like he didn't even exist. Me, she just … I was her "teasing toy", if you will. Brad was her "googly bear" and if I so much as looked in his _direction_, she would yell at me until her voice was hoarse and/or we had managed to quiet her. 

For the next few days, though he still wasn't really speaking to me, Eric seemed to be hanging around me a lot. He and I went on walks "together" just to get away from Brad and Sally, but we never really talked. I always brought my bow along with me, though I never really needed it. If we encountered a dinosaur, we would hide in the vines, hoping beyond hope that they wouldn't find us. They rarely did. And if they _did_ find us, they were usually just eating the plant life. You know, herbivores.

It was one of these times when we saw a big, scaly shape up ahead that Eric and I dove into some vines hanging down around the trunk of a tree. Of course, it turned out to be only an Ankylosaurus eating the plant life. It soon moved on, past our tree (which was when we realized what it was). We laughed at our foolishness. I looked over at Eric, smiling, and saw that he was already looking at me. He quickly turned away, his smile fading and his face reddening. He pushed through the vines and began walking back toward the water truck. I followed a few feet behind him, wondering what had just happened.

We had been walking along in silence for quite a ways when Eric suddenly stopped. Yay! I had overcome my bit with running into people! But, wow, was my happy moment short lived. Because a big, huge, evil Tyrannosaurus was staring down at us. Its big, yellow eyes seemed to be dilating and its nostrils were widening as though to sniff us out. Its green, scaly skin heaved in and out with every breath it took.

My body went rigid and I kept playing one thought over and over again in my mind. _You don't move, it can't see you. You don't move, it can't see you. You don't move, it can't see you …_

The T-Rex lowered its head and looked around. I bit my lip, forcing down a scream. I could see its sharp, yellowish teeth sticking out from under the closed mouth and a strong smell of rot and decay blew towards us on the wind. The large dinosaur (about fifteen feet tall) narrowed its eyes, then, quite suddenly, let out a long roar that seemed to reverberate off the trees. The sound sent clouds of birds into the air. I bit my lip so hard that soon an almost metallic taste filled my mouth. I let go of my lip and instead went to biting my tongue.

After we didn't move, the Tyrannosaurus seemed to deduct that we weren't there and turned, walking off, its skin rippling with every step it took.

My body relaxed and I brought a hand up to my lip. Pulling it away showed a dab of blood on the end of my fingertips, which slowly dripped to the forest floor. I wiped my lip on the back of my hand and without a backward glance, followed Eric the rest of the way to the water truck. As soon as it came into sight, a small scream reached my ears and Sally came hurtling towards us. "He's gone!" she cried. "I don't know where he went to! He's gone! I don't know … just gone!"

Eric turned on his heel and ran off, silent as anything. Sally fell onto my shoulder, sobbing. "Brad! Come back! Where did he go!" As quickly as I could with Sally leaning on my shoulder as though I was her lifeline, I managed to climb into the water truck and set Sally on the bed, where she curled up in a ball and began sobbing. I didn't know what to say to her. She was a jerk, yeah; but I didn't really feel like leaving her there.

I knelt down on the floor next to the low bed and wrapped my arms around her, whispering soothing things in her ear. After a while, she stopped sobbing and was only breathing hard. Though my legs were beginning to cramp up, I remained on the floor with one arm over her. Five minutes passed before she sat up, wiping her eyes. "Sorry," she muttered. "I know you must feel bad because Eric's gone now, too."

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"You like him, right?"

My eyes widened and I fell onto my butt. "What?"

"You like him."

"I don – It's just – I can – Why do you say that?" I stuttered.

"You're always disappearing with him, leaving Brad and me by ourselves. It's kind of rude, but we don't mind it all that much. It's pretty obvious."

I let my face harden, even though my insides were still squirming. "How do you expect me to like him after the way he's treated me!" I snapped.

Sally raised her eyebrows. Then I remembered that she didn't know how much of a jerk Eric had been before she came. I sighed, got up, and sat down on the bed next to her. "It's just …" I started, trying to think what to say. "Eric's been … a real jerk. I mean, now that you've come, he's been less so, but he still won't talk to me. It's kind of hard to explain. What the heck am I saying! It _is_ hard to explain because I don't know why on earth he's doing this to me! Do you know _how_ depressing it is to have someone there with you for a whole month but they don't really ever talk to you! And the only times they really _do_ start talking to you, is when they're yelling at you! I mean … man!" I rested my head in my hands and sighed. "It's just … Eric and I were friends and he helped me get through Hannah's death and then … the next day … he just … He seemed to almost like me the day she died! And then … I don't get it!"

"You're so clueless, Lane," Sally said softly. I looked over at her. She was grinning at me. "It's so obvious why he was doing that." She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting up straight.

"I think I'll let him tell you … when he's ready. Just be nice to him, ok?"

"Why did you bother saying anything if you weren't going to tell me!" I roared. Sally's grin just broadened.

I heard something land on the half imbedded car outside. My breath caught in my throat. _It's just Eric, Lane. It's just Eric. _I thought, trying to reassure myself. I walked quickly to the hatch and was just about to poke my head out when I heard a chirping sound come from outside. Not the small chirping, like from the Compys, but … it was more predatory.

I poked my head out of the hatch just far enough to see. It was a Raptor, just standing there on the car, chirping. Already I could hear more Raptors crashing through the bushes. I slowly and carefully raised my arm out of the hatch and reached towards the door.

_Please don't let it see me; God, don't let it see me! _I thought. I grabbed the handle on the door and slowly began to pull it closed. Slowly … slowly … SLOWLY!

_CREAK! _

The Raptor's head whipped around and stared right at me. The door was only half closed and I was transfixed to the spot. The Raptor let out a low sort of chirp … or maybe it was as hiss. It charged in the blink of an eye. My reflexes had been improved, but not that much. I tried to the slam to door shut but a few of the Raptor's nails caught under it. It was much stronger than I was. I screamed. "**SALLY! SALLY, COME OVER HERE AND HELP ME! HELP ME!**"

Sally ran over to my side and grabbed the handle. We both braced ourselves and pulled down with all our might. I could hear the Raptor outside practically screaming in fury as we pulled the hatch farther and farther closed. My hands began to get slippery with sweat and I screamed again. But then, I heard metal hit metal and knew the hatch had closed. It was really hard to open from the outside but just to be sure, Sally and I grabbed some rope and tied it shut.

I sat down on the bed, panting and clutching my side. We could only stay in here so long. What were we going to do when we had to get out?

* * *

**The Elfin Child **Do you have an infinite supply of windows? DON'T HURT MY – uh – ERIC!

**Short and proud **Um … to tell you the truth, I don't know how _many_ chapters are left, but I think I've got the story line all figured out.

**Flutterby **I don't know when I'm going to explain why _Eric_ is acting the way he is, but Brad … Brad's always been that way.

**Antiope **I love your reviews! My gosh, you are one smart person, person! Haha – yeah.

**Lauren **-laughs evilly-

**Un-named **I get your meaning and all … but in the movies, as my friend kindly pointed out, they made jokes and such. Personally, I think I would pee in my pants, but … yeah. This is Lane … she's just … she's just weird.

**Morning sunrise **Yes, yes, yes. This is a Brad well known to you only he's older and –cough- cuter –cough-

**Beautyqueen321 **Haha – well … it says in your name that you're a queen, so I thought the song would fit.

**Superguy **AH! -clutches heart and keels over backward- A NEW REVIEWER! YAY! THOU ART HARTILLY WELCOME, MY FINE FRIEND! -still lying on floor, out of sight-


	23. The Frustration Continues

**Chapter Twenty-three - The Frustration Continues**

_I grabbed the handle on the door and slowly began to pull it closed. Slowly … slowly … SLOWLY! _

_CREAK! _

_The Raptor's head whipped around and stared right at me. The door was only half closed and I was transfixed to the spot. The Raptor let out a low sort of chirp … or maybe it was a hiss. It charged in the blink of an eye. My reflexes had been improved, but not that much. I tried to the slam to door shut but a few of the Raptor's nails caught under it. It was much stronger than I was. I screamed. "**SALLY! SALLY, COME OVER HERE AND HELP ME! HELP ME!**"_

_Sally ran over to my side and grabbed the handle. We both braced ourselves and pulled down with all our might. I could hear the Raptor outside practically screaming in fury as we pulled the hatch farther and farther closed. My hands began to get slippery with sweat and I screamed again. But then, I heard metal hit metal and knew the hatch had closed. It was really hard to open from the outside but just to be sure, Sally and I grabbed some rope and tied it shut. _

_I sat down on the bed, panting and clutching my side. We could only stay in here so long. What were we going to do when we had to get out? _

_

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_

The night had been a hectic one. Not only had I barely gotten any sleep, but Sally "chose" the bed, cried into the late hours about Brad not being there, snapped at me for moving at all and making a noise, blew her nose on the blankets (yuck) every few minutes, and snored like … a donkey.

But that wasn't the only thing that had kept me up. The Raptors were still out there. I could hear them prowling around, trying to find a weakness to our structure. If there had been any, the Compys would have found it long ago, but this did not make me feel any better.

What if Eric… and Brad didn't notice that those stupid things were there and waltzed right up to the truck? By the sounds of it, they hadn't.

The only thought that kept me sane was _Eric hasn't found Brad. Brad's been eaten. He's gone forever! Eric hasn't found Brad. Brad's been eaten… _It was actually very helpful.

In the morning, my whole body was stiff and my eyelids drooped from lack of sleep. Sally's eyes were red and swollen but she only sniffed once or twice. We ate a … hearty meal of cold, nine year old beans from a can, took a few sips of our water supply, and sat around to wait. Five minutes later I was craving fresh-air, as I had never done before.

"Lane," Sally whispered a few minutes later.

"What?" I hissed back, listening to the sounds of the forest around us.

"I have to use the restroom," she whined.

"Find a can, then," I snapped back, not taking my eyes off the hatch.

"What do you mean, find a can? I told you, I have to go!" She exclaimed.

"And I said 'find a can!'" I replied, still not shifting my gaze.

"And what the heck am I supposed to do with it then?"

I finally looked over at her and raised my eyebrows. "You really shouldn't have made it through the tenth grade." I grabbed a can from a shelf, shoved it in her arms, and pushed her into the back corner of the water truck. She looked at me with horror. "Don't worry, I won't look," I said, looking back at the hatch.

"You expect me to … to pee in this can!" She exclaimed.

"If you have another idea, I would love to hear it," I said, not shifting my gaze.

"I never thought I would be peeing in a can," Sally muttered.

----------- Flashback_ -----------_

_"You took quite a beating," Eric said, sitting down next to me on the bed. "So we figured you deserved the bed, even though it was MY turn." I grinned and nodded. "So, any idea what happened?"_

_"Not really," I said, feeling even MORE dumb. "I remember something jumping out of the bushes and landing on Jessie, then more things jumping out of the bushes. I don't know what they were though. And then Tina …"_

_"OH MY GOSH!" Hannah cried, grabbing my hand. "IS SHE OK? SHE ISN'T DEAD IS SHE? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER, LANE!"_

_"Hush!" Eric said. "What did I tell you about being loud? You DON'T want to let any dinosaurs know where we're hiding! Otherwise they'll trap us in here and we'll run out of the nasty food that we have VERY quickly and have to pee in a tin can. Do you want that?"_

_I knew I blushed. His bluntness about the matter of peeing in a tin can was kind of embarrassing. Hannah and I both shook our heads and no one said anything for a bit. _

_"So, Lane," Eric said, breaking the silence. "Are you going to finish your story?"_

----------- End Flashback -----------

I smiled at the memory. Eric had been so kind then … nothing like the jerk he was now. Nothing.

Sally thrust her can into my hands and sat down on the bed next to me.

"What the heck am I supposed to do with this!" I exclaimed, holding the can out at arm's length.

"You really shouldn't have made it through the tenth grade," Sally said. I turned to her; she was grinning.

"_Don't _use my words," I said under my breath.

"What was that?" Sally said mockingly, putting her hand to her ear. "I didn't catch it. What did you say?" She then put her hand back in her lap and smirked at me. "Just take it away, Lane. That's what slaves do."

I had a strong impulse to throw the contents of the can on her, and I almost did, too. But it wasn't my conscience that had stopped me. Oh, no. I was perfectly fine with contaminating Sally and her precious bed. It was the hatch being ripped open (even the rope tearing) and a shadow falling over us that stopped me.

I whipped around to look up through the hatch and was temporarily blinded by the bright light of a sunny morning. But I had no problem recognizing that voice. "Sally, Lane. Come on! Let's get out of here while we can!" It was Eric.

My eyes finally focused and I saw both Eric and Brad staring down at us from up above. They looked extremely tired and even dirtier than when I had last seen them. Eric had a scratch on the side of his face and blood was dripping slowly down his cheek.

I grabbed my bow and quiver of arrows, then I stuffed a bag with of blankets and shoved a few cans of beans and spoons in, slung it over my shoulder and ran over to the opening. Sally had already been helped out. She hadn't grabbed anything.

"The beaker; get the beaker!" Eric said, frantically looking around. I grabbed the beaker with the Tyrannosaurus urine in it, handed it up to Brad (make the evil thing carry the evil thing … smart, I am), then Eric helped me out. They closed the hatch and we raced from the truck. Over the swamp and into the trees we went. I never looked back but ran along following Eric and trusting him. Every time the bag hit my back, it reminded me that we were never going back. Never going back, never going back…

After quite a few minutes of running, we came to an extremely large tree and began climbing it. You had to be careful which roots and branches you stepped on because the tree seemed to be rotting and your foot would fall through. The roots were high out of the ground and slowly sloped up to the tree, where the trunk went straight up until it reached a cluster of branches at the top. Several odd vine things were growing across the trunk in a kind of grid pattern, making great footholds to help us climb up the tree quickly.

Eric was the first to reach the cluster of branches at the top so he helped the rest of us over. First he pulled Sally over, then me, then Brad. He grabbed my arm rather roughly and yanked me up and over the edge. There was only a small area where there were no branches sticking up towards the heavens and this was where we were standing. There were three small "paths", making a sort of fork in the branches. The ones to the right and left looked as though they went all the way around the tree. The one straight ahead appeared as though it led into the middle of the large plant.

"Eric found it last night," Brad said, brushing past me and standing next to Sally.

"Yeah," Eric said from behind me. "Thought it might come in handy as a shelter for the time being. Watch your step." He pushed past me (hitting my shoulder and nearly knocking me over) and walked into the path straight-ahead, disappearing in the shadow. Sally looked at Brad, who nodded, then the two of them followed Eric. I sighed, readjusted my load, and walked after them. I was amazed at how fast it got dark … and it was very dark. But soon it got light, not real light; a murky sort of cloudy light. And yet I had only been walking for a few seconds … at a slow pace. We came out into a small clearing, sort of a room. It was very small, with hardly enough space for the four of us to lie down comfortably. I looked up above and saw a thick layer of dead looking branches about twenty feet up, letting only a few rays of light in.

"Cruddy kind of place, isn't it?" Sally asked dismally, looking around. No one said anything. I didn't want to agree with her and make Eric mad … but did I really care what he thought? He was just being a big jerk.

"Yeah, the water truck was even better than this," I said.

Oops. Eric whirled around and … stomped over to me. I recoiled and hit the wall of branches behind me.

"Don't be so quick to judge," he hissed, coming only inches away from me. "Besides, it's not my fault that this is the only place we have to go to anymore."

"Oh, great," I said. "So now this is my fault too?"

"Who was the one down there yelling and screaming, being the perfect bait for some dinosaur?" He questioned, coming closer.

"Sally," I said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, sure, Sally," He said. "Now you're blaming her for your stupid actions?"

"Hey!" I said, shoving Eric a bit, which caused him to back up about a foot. "Stop blaming me for stuff, ok?"

"So you don't want to be responsible for your actions? You're the reason we don't have a safe place to stay any more! You're the reason that we have no bed, hardly any food, and –"

"Eric –"

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT DANGER YOU WERE IN? THAT YOU PUT YOURSELF AND SALLY IN! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CAUSED? WE HAVE NO WATER! NOW THE DINOSAURS ABSOLUTLEY KNOW WE'RE HERE! THEY'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING FOR US, LANE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT – "

Brad put his hand on Eric's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Eric closed his mouth and started breathing hard. He looked over at me and we made eye contact. Though his eyes were wreathed in fury, I could tell it was only a mask, though what was behind the mask was unreadable. Brad stepped away back to Sally.

"It's just as inconsiderate … as stupid as what you did to Hannah," He breathed before turning and walking over to the other side of the "clearing" where he sat down.

While he was yelling at me, I hadn't realized it but now I did; I was shaking. My face was probably white, as well. His normal yelling didn't bother me much any more … or so I told myself. But what really got me was that he was still blaming me for Hannah's death. Didn't he know how much pain even her name caused? I could suddenly hear her screams rake the air around me, as though they were echoing around the trees. Now they were in my head, her words clearer than the day she had died.

_"**LANE! OH GOSH, HELP! SOMEONE! OH MY GOSH! HELP ME! LANE! HELP! SOMEONE! SOMEBODY HELP ME! OH GOSH! HELP!"**_

**_"LANE! LANE! LANE! LANE! LANE!"_**

"STOP!" I screamed. I opened my eyes. I was on my knees, my arms over my head. I was shaking worse than ever. Sally was kneeling next to me, her arm draped over my back. "Lane?" she asked.

I looked into her eyes and felt a tear roll down my cheek. I looked over at Eric and Brad. Brad was standing back timidly, looking kind of scared of me. Eric still looked furious and looked away when I looked up at him. But he didn't look as mad as he had been before.

"Lane, what happened?" Sally asked. Her voice sounded kind of scared.

I looked over at her. "I heard … I heard …" I sighed and lowered my head again. "It doesn't matter." I said hollowly.

"It was like … you suddenly fell onto the ground, shaking, and your eyes were rolled back into your head. Lane, you scared me," Sally sobbed.

I looked up at her again. This was so unlike Sally. She sounded as if … as if she cared! But that couldn't be right.

"I want to be alone," I choked out.

"Why don't you go back to your water truck, then?" I heard Eric mutter.

_Why don't you leave me alone and stop being such a jerk! _I felt like saying.

I shakily got to my feet and looked around. I saw a parting in the branches in the shape of what looked like a teardrop. I walked over to it and peered through. A small room sort of thing was behind it. I climbed through and curled up on the floor. There was just room enough for me to do this, but it was comforting and soothing. The last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep was, "_Stop being such a butt, Eric!" _

_"Thanks, Sally," _I whispered before sleep claimed me.

_

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**Morning sunrise **I'm glad you didn't like the kissing because with all honesty, neither did I.

**The Elfin Child **Well … ok, he's not my Eric … or my Trevor Morgan. But … -laughs evilly- I can make him do _anything _I want. MWAHA!

**Shiro **Did I review your story? I can't remember if I did or not …

**Antiope **_I love your reviews! I don't know why but I love your reviews_! Maybe because you're the only smart one … just kidding. But on this front you are. And you have a right to not like Sally. She's just evil.

**Alexei James **PLEASE tell me you meant the story when you said "MARRY ME!"

**Beautyqueen321 **TORTURE! -evil laugh- Fun fun. -claps hands gleefully-

**Risa **I know who you are, I do. -nods knowingly and taps head- Smart, I am.

**Betsy **Hehehe – I can get away with it! Hehehehehehe …

**Jennifer **Hello, hello, a new reviewer! I like you, I do … -smiles evilly-

**Nogard **Thanks for the site; I'll try it out.

**Bonitabella **Yet _another_ person with a crush on Trevor Morgan. Well, if it gets you to read the story … J


	24. Hate Unmasked

**Autumn Darkness: **I just want to say that I'm sorry about making Eric such a jerk lately, but … well … um … I can't say when it will end because … yeah. But things _might_ start getting better. AH! I came up with an abbreviation for my story. Okay, are you ready? RTJ! Wow. YAY! Cool. _Beyond_ cool.

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Chapter Twenty-four - Hate Unmasked

_I was running through the forest, a dense fog pressing in on all sides. The foliage was so thick I could hardly squeeze my way through it. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I knew that I had to keep going. The fog seemed to get thicker and thicker as I ran until I could hardly see my hand if I waved it two inches away from my nose. Panting heavily, I stopped in my tracks and cried out, "Help! Someone! Anyone! Help!"_

_But a booming ahead of me silenced my cries and I stood, rooted to the spot. Something was coming through the mist. And it was a large something. A huge, dark form walking slowly towards me. The thing stopped, then let out a long roar. It was a Tyrannosaurus. I let out a whimper and turned and began running. Though I couldn't really see it through the mist, I could tell I was running through foliage. The booming sound of the Tyrannosaurus' gait was following behind me_.

I jerked awake. My body was covered in a cold sweat. I hadn't dreamt that since the night after we found Brad.

My whole body was stiff from sleeping in the same position for several hours. I felt as though I had a head cold from all of the crying I had done the other night. My eyes felt really dry, too. I blinked them a couple times to bring some moisture into them, but it didn't seem to change anything.

I slowly sat up, wincing as my muscles tightened in pain. I crawled out of the teardrop shaped opening and looked around, rubbing my neck. Sure, I hadn't been expecting someone to run up to me and hug me, but I wasn't expecting this.

The living room (what the heck, I'll name the stupid opening … room … thing) was, on first glance, completely empty. Apart from myself. I looked around closer and saw that my bow and quiver of arrows was leaning against the wall opposite. I walked over to it and picked my bow up in my hands. It felt so smooth. Ok, so when we found it, the bark was kind of smooth, but I had spent a lot of time rubbing this stick. Mostly when Eric was being a jerk.

_----------- _Flashback_ -----------_

_"Eric, we need some more water."_

_"Why don't you go fill the canteens up, then?"_

_"By myself!"_

_"I'm not your babysitter, Lane."_

_"I know that, Eric, but you want me to go out there and get water by myself."_

_"Are you deaf now? Yes!"_

_"Eric, come on. I don't want to go …"_

_"I'm not doing it!"_

_"I mean; I don't want to go alone."_

_"Why not? Are you suddenly twelve?"_

_"Eric, there are dinosaurs out there!"_

_"Well, gee, aren't you smart."_

_"Stop being a jerk!"_

_"Oh, so now I'm a jerk, am I?"_

_"Eric, just come with me!"_

_"So that I can get eaten and you can run away?"_

_"I didn't say that …"_

_"You sure as heck should have, because that's what you meant. Besides, don't you have your precious bow to bring with you?"_

_"I would feel a lot more comfortable …"_

_"Oh, so now you want to be comfortable, do you?"_

_I bit my lip, trying to hold in my anger, even though my body was shaking with rage and I was sure my face was red with fury. "I only meant …"_

_"Just give me the canteens, Lane." Eric jerked the canteens out of my hands and stormed out of the water truck. I was just about to climb out and follow him when he slammed the hatch shut. _

_"That git," I muttered. I sat down on the bed (if it's possible to angrily sit down, I did it) and grabbed a rag off a shelf and my bow. I placed the rag on the bow and rubbed it back and forth, back and forth, all the while muttering about how stupid Eric was and how much I ha – disliked him. I didn't think that it was really possible to hate anyone. You could dislike someone, but not hate them. _

_A while later, Eric pried open the hatch, climbed inside, and set the full canteens on a shelf. "There you are, your highness."_

_My anger towards him had been growing steadily while he was away and just setting my eyes on him nearly made me explode. I gripped my bow and without a second's thought, I chucked it at him. He ducked, of course, and it missed him._

_"Hey! Watch it! You could have hit me!" He said, picking the bow up and setting it on the bed._

_In the blink of an eye, I had snatched up the bow, an arrow, loaded it, and was holding it at the ready, aiming it right at Eric. "I meant to, you **BEEP**!" _

_Eric's mouth dropped open. We just stood there, staring at each other for a few seconds. "I'm going for a walk," Eric finally said. He climbed out of the water truck and shut the hatch. When he got back, I was asleep._

----------- End Flashback -----------

I shook my head, trying to get the memories out of it. Why had Eric been such a moron lately? _Wow, girl, will you STOP thinking that! _I thought. _You're just hurting yourself more. _Which was pretty true. I felt like I was choked up all the time, which is not a very comfortable feeling.

"Lane? There you are!"

I turned around and saw Sally rushing towards me. She pulled me into a hug and after a few seconds pulled back. I had been so surprised that I hadn't hugged her back. Sally Grude … hugged me? She hugged ME!

"Where were you?" She asked, smiling.

"I … was sleeping." I said, still kind of confused.

"Oh … well we didn't see you so we ran out to look for you. Eric sent me back in here to get the bow."

"Why did you take everything with you, then?" I asked suspiciously, narrowing my eyes.

"Um … I'm not sure. You'll have to ask the boys. Come on!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me through the passage, then climbed down the trunk. I followed close behind her. When we reached the bottom, Sally led me around to the other side of the tree, through a small hole in the roots and into a ditch. The ceiling was made out of tightly packed roots and the floor of what looked like hardened clay. Eric and Brad were waiting inside.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

I guess because I had entered behind Sally, the boys didn't see me because they looked very surprised and a little concern flashed through _both_ of their eyes. But it was Eric who jumped down my throat. "Where the heck have you been!"

"Sleeping," I said simply.

"Where!"

"Where I slept last night."

"Where is that!"

"In a tree."

"Don't you get smart with me …"

"I'll get smart with you when I want to, you over-stuffed umbrella!"

"SHUT-UP!"

Eric and I turned to look at Brad, who had been the one to yell.

"For one thing," he said, "we're on the ground, which is not a very good place to be yelling from. Secondly, you two should grow up and stop fighting, especially you, Eric. Thirdly, Lane, 'over-stuffed umbrella', I believe, was _my_ term first and I would like for you to ask permission before you use it. All clear?"

I nodded slowly. Don't know what Eric did, the little under-cooked hog's nostril… wait; I would have to ask permission for that, too. Hmmm.

"Brad…" Sally whispered.

"I wasn't talking to you, sweetie."

"No, Brad …"

"Hold on."

"No, Brad, LOOK!"

We all turned to look where Sally was pointing. If I hadn't been on the island for so long, I would have screamed. But that would have only brought attention to myself. Instead I smothered a gasp. Because sitting in the opening (the only one I could see) was a Raptor.

For a second, I wondered why Sally hadn't screamed instead of trying to get our attention by whispering, but then I remembered that she had been on the island as long as I had and even though she was extremely … stupid, if you will … she could be rather intelligent at times.

The Raptor's eyes flicked about the little cave we were in, and then looked at each of us in turn.

"_Get behind me," _Eric whispered.

I would have retorted but talking didn't seem like such a good idea. Sally moved quickly over to Brad and clutched his arm. I saw the Raptor tense up and crouch a little. I slowly began backing towards Eric and slowly began pulling an arrow out of my quiver. I caught Eric's gaze and he nodded slightly. I couldn't see how the arrow would get fully into the flesh of the dinosaur, but that was why I had to aim for a soft spot, like its eye.

I carefully pulled the arrow into the bow with shaking hands. The Raptor was still watching Sally intently. I glanced over at Sally and saw that she was clutching Brad's arm so tightly his fingers were turning purple. She was looking the Raptor right in the eye.

_Oh, Sally, no! _I thought. But I didn't want to say anything out loud.

I glanced over at Eric and he gave me an urgent nod and jerked his head in the direction of the Raptor. I looked back at the animal, took aim, crossed my eyes a little so that all I really saw was his eye …

It happened in a second. Just as I let the arrow go, the Raptor pounced, Sally screamed, Brad pulled her out of the way, knocking into me and sending us to a heap on the floor where I couldn't see a thing that was going on. I could hear Sally screaming, Brad yelling (right in my ear, I might add), the Raptor screeching, something glass shattering, and then I heard, "**GET UP! COME ON, YOU GUYS! GET UP! WE NEED TO GET OUT! NOW!"**

I felt Brad get off of me and then he helped me to my feet. The Raptor was stumbling around, an arrow sticking out of his tail and a sticky yellow substance splattered all over his body. "**LANE!" **Eric yelled. I turned, just as he grabbed my arm, and we ran out into the daylight.

We ran through the trees and shrubs at full speed, not looking back. Eric was in the lead, followed by Sally, then me, then Brad. I could hear the cans of beans clanking around in the bag Brad was carrying and could feel my bow slapping my back as I ran.

Eric finally chose a tree and all four of us scrambled up the limbs as fast as we could. I slumped onto a branch, panting for breath. Once I had caught most of it back, I said, "What happened?"

"You missed your stupid target, that's what," Eric muttered, but I could tell I was meant to hear it. I looked over at him and glared.

"Eric!" Sally hissed. She was sitting next to Brad, clutching his arm again, only it looked like she wasn't holding on as tight.

"What!" Eric said, angrily. "If she would have shot sooner then she wouldn't have gotten his tail and I wouldn't have had to use the … the T-Rex …"

"So that's what that yellow stuff was," Brad said, looking thoughtful. "T-Rex pee …"

Sally rolled her eyes at him, then leaned her head on his shoulder, sighing deeply. It would have been nice for me to be able to do that to someone … preferably a guy. But since Eric was being so stuck up …

"And if we hadn't had that, then Sally would have been a goner." Eric continued.

"Why," I said, "is everything my fault?"

Eric looked over at me and raised an eyebrow as though this was the stupidest question in the world.

"I'm serious, Eric," I said. "It's my fault we had to leave the water truck –"

"Well it – " He tried to interrupt me.

"But if I remember correctly, Sally was the one screaming at the top of her voice because she was afraid Brad was in danger."

"Yes, but –"

"And then it's my fault a Raptor showed up and was going to eat Sally and it's my fault it pounced at the same time I shot so I didn't get his eye like I was aiming for."

"Yeah, well –"  
"_And_ it's my … my fault that … Hannah died!"

Everyone went silent and I felt a couple tears roll down my face. Eric opened his mouth to talk, but I beat him to it.

"Eric, I'm tired. I'm tired of you blaming me for everything; I'm tired of you yelling at me all the time; I'm tired of being ignored. Do you know how depressing it is to actually have someone with you on this island; someone who doesn't talk to you unless they're yelling or it's absolutely necessary that they do? Do you know how hard it's been for me to keep cool and not kill you or even myself? I've had these arrows with me for a long time, Eric, and that takes a lot of self-control. Do you remember that day when I called you a **BEEP**? Well, I meant it, Eric, and I was _this_ close to letting go of that arrow. It was hard enough for me to deal with Hannah's death without you … blaming me for it and … you didn't comfort me at all, Eric. Sure, there was that day when I cried on your shoulder but the very next, you practically … it's felt as though you've pushed me off a cliff, Eric."

"I didn't think –" Eric tried to say, but I cut him off, like I had done several times before.

"That's right," I said. "You _didn't_ think. I hate you, Eric." And I truly meant it.

It was so quiet after my little rant that you could hear a pin drop if someone happened to drop a pin or … if anyone had a pin.

"_I told you, Eric," _Sally whispered after a bit.

I wiped my tear-stained face on the back of my hand and looked over at Sally and Brad. Brad was looking at his hands that were folded in his lap and Sally was staring at the ground down below the tree, but her eyes looked a bit unfocused. I looked over at Eric and he was staring at me with his mouth partially open, as though he had never seen anything like me before.

I turned around and slid through a couple of branches. I sat down on a branch where I couldn't see anyone and put my head in my hands, feeling a few more tears leak from my eyes. It felt good to have been able to let it all out, but in a way, I felt a little sorry. Did I really, truly hate Eric? It was hard to think that. I mean, sure, I disliked him with a passion, but did I really, truly, without a doubt hate him?

-----------Flashback-----------

_I slammed my backpack on the floor, dropped into my seat at the lunch table and buried my head in my arms, letting a few tears run down my cheeks. I was new. It was my first day at Carley Peter Boarding School and already Sally and her friends were picking on me because I wasn't pleasantly slim, like them. I wasn't a toothpick. And I wasn't a pig. I was just a little plump, something that my mom said I would grow out of one of these days. I knew she was right, and that Sally was wrong, but I just couldn't help but thinking otherwise. Why did they hate me? How could 14-year-old girls be so hateful? _

_"Aw, is wittle Wane sad?"_

_I jerked my head up angrily. Eric was leaning over the other side of the table, grinning at me. He looked pretty funny with braces, but I was too mad to care._

_"Bug off, Eric; I know you wouldn't want to be seen talking to me," I snapped._

_"Lane, you know that's not true," he said. This time he didn't sound like he was teasing, but more like he was concerned._

_"Yes it is," I sobbed. "You never want to be around me any more. You don't stick up for me; you don't talk with me; you don't walk home with me; you don't hang out with me; you never call me. The only time that you ever spend time around me is when your mom drags you over to my house, and then you either play Nintendo the whole time or sulk in the living room, like it's the worst place to be. And your friends aren't even there, watching your every move!" _

_Eric had moved over next to me during my speech and when I looked up, he was kneeling beside me. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Lane, I can't say anything about my actions except that I'm sorry."_

_I huffed and buried my head in my arms again. _

_"Here," he said. He placed his handkerchief on my lap. "Wipe your nose."_

_I did as I was told, but didn't look up._

_"Hey, Eric! What are you doing?"_

_I looked up and saw Eric's band of popular friends watching him. Eric grinned. "She stole my hanky and I was trying to get it back." He grabbed the hanky out of my hands, then jogged over to his group of friends. It was only the first day of school (a school which neither of us had ever been to before) and he already had a gang of friends to hang out with._

_As they walked away, Sally smiled mockingly at me, then Brad followed, looking like a lost puppy-dog. It was a well-known fact that he had a huge crush on Sally Grude._

_The next summer, Eric had landed himself on Isla Sorna, where he spent 8 weeks alone. His friends hadn't even cared that he was missing… but I had._

_-----------_End Flashback-----------

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**Jennifer **Yes, I agree with Sally too. Um … you'll find out what happened to everyone else eventually, but sticking with Lane is my main priority because she's telling the story … so far.

**Da white rabbit **Yeah, I don't like having constant dinosaur attacks. Like you said, it doesn't really develop the characters if you do that.

**Emery Flutterby **Eric … he's crazy is what he is. Yes, it is sad that Brad was somewhat nicer …very sad.

**The Elfin Child **hehehe – I like that part too. Tree girl!

**Beautyqueen321 **Was that a cliffhanger?

**Mia **Um … evil, evil, evil … do I have evil in store? I'll have to get back to you on that one. –wink- Ah … Hammond. I'll explain that one of these days.

**Sorrynotime **Is one update ok? If I make it nice and long? Because I'm not going to update three times in a little over a week, girlie!

**Antiope **Yeah, I thought you guys deserved a break from all the cliffhangers. Good, you didn't hate Sally. I don't really think that you can truly hate someone and if you say that to anyone when you aren't joking, that's beyond evil to the infinitiest power! -grins- Oh, yeah … you probably realized this but it's Brad, hun; not Bryan. Hahaha - -sigh-

**Pocket Jericho **Yay! I have good characters! Cool!

**Arch of Wand **Are you trying to confuse me? … Just kidding, I still know who you are. Still smart, I am. Ooooh … a flying rat's butt … that must be a very odd thing to see. Yes indeed. A SONG! YAY! I love songs, I do. -grins and nods vigorously- Hey, I looked at your profile and I think I've seen that play, Flapper, at a Jr. High near me. Yeah. There were the two … crook peoples trying to steel … a diamond or something. And a guy sitting on a pole … and the main girl was a singer or something and she went to try out … and there was this guy that flew her there in his plane and … I'll shut-up now.


	25. Tears Like A River

**Chapter Twenty-five -Tears Like A River**

A couple hours later, we were back up in the tree. Eric had led us there, without saying a word to me, of course. The Raptor had been no-where in sight, and a very large footprint was at the base of the tree; probably from a Spinosaurus.

I was sitting off by myself, leaning against the skyward branches, when Brad walked over to me. No one had talked to me since my little outburst and it had been somewhat nice. I needed to be ignored for the time being.

Brad sat down next to me and we sat there in silence for a few minutes. "What did you do that for?" he asked finally.

"Do what for?" I replied. I wasn't in the mood for talking.

"Blow up on Eric like that. He was only-"

"Chewing me out, yeah, I know."

"He wasn't the one to chew someone out. You chewed him out!"

"I don't give a darn. That means he has 999 points and I have one." I snapped.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You weren't with us for that month we were alone together. You don't know how he acted or the things he said."

"Yeah, well, the time I've been here with you, you sure haven't shown much better conduct towards him."

"I DIDN'T BLAME HIM FOR THE DEATH OF HANNAH!"

"I know you didn't and how could you? He wasn't there!"

"WHY WOULD SOMEONE BE SO SICK AS TO BLAME SOMEONE FOR THE DEATH OF THEIR BEST FRIEND WHEN THEY KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THAT THEY COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!"

I saw Eric look over at me from across the room, a mix of anger and sympathy etched on his face. Sally looked over at me, too, and she looked as though she had a mix of concern and … she looked annoyed.

Brad shifted around and I could tell he was about to say something, so I continued on in a quieter voice.

"Besides, Eric had just … I was concerned! He got himself stuck in that bathroom … or … I should have been the one down there. I got to get out of the bathroom first. He didn't have a chance. I was worried about him. Hannah made me leave. I wasn't thinking clearly, and there was nothing I could have done for her when the Spinosaurus came."

Brad was silent. I had never talked about how Hannah died and he hadn't known anything about the bathroom incident.

"How could Eric blame me for something like that? And I don't even know if Tina is alive … She's the only friend I have left and I'm not so sure that she is left."

"Yeah, but you still didn't have to-" Brad began to say.

"You just don't get it! You're never going to get it! Your head's so full of air; you can only see things from one view. And that's your view."

"Yeah, but Eric really li-"

"Go sniff a cactus!" I exclaimed. I got up to go to my little teardrop room when he called after me.

"You can't use that!"

"That's _my_ phrase, Bradley, and I can use it however I want," I said quietly and in a threatening tone.

* * *

Candy Saunters burst into the office and slammed the door shut. "Mr. Hammond!" she called loudly. 

The chair behind the desk turned around to show an elderly man sitting in the chair. He had white hair and big glasses that made his eyes look like bugs'. "Yes, Miss Saunters?" John Hammond asked, slowly getting up out of his chair.

"What exactly you've been doing for the past month and a half? Those children have been on that island long enough! We don't even know if they're still alive!" Candy screamed.

"Ah, yes," Mr. Hammond said. "I thought that was why you are here."

"And why else would I be here? To have a friendly chat and some tea while those children are being EATEN!"

"No, I suppose not," he said. "Tea?"

"What!"

"Would you like some tea?" he said again.

"No I would not like some tea!" Candy yelled. "I want answers! And I want them now."

"Miss Saunters; calm down. Come, sit down."

Candy sighed angrily, walked over to the desk, and took a seat in front of it.

"Now, I have some explaining to do," Mr. Hammond said.

"You bet you do," Candy muttered, but Hammond ignored it.

"Let me get right down to it. I am not as friendly with the government as I used to be. Or, rather, they're not as friendly with me. Especially not the Costa Rican government; but the American government as well. In fact, the whole world seems to have turned against me. I am a very old man, my dear. I can't get around as easily as I used to be able to. We mustn't forget that the failure of the islands has taken a lot out of my finances. I am working as hard as I can to get us both down to Costa Rica and to get a helicopter over to Isla Sorna, but it's taken some time, and some brains. I've nearly got it, so if you could please wait maybe a week-"

"A week? A WEEK?" Candy yelled, hopping up from her chair. "Those students have been on that island for-"

"My dear Miss Saunters, I know. And I am doing everything in my power to get them home. But in the meantime, we'll just have to be patient," Hammond said calmly.

Candy sighed angrily again and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Tea?" Hammond questioned.

* * *

The next morning, without a word to anyone, I went out with my bow and arrows and climbed a near-by tree, high up in the branches. It had been a long time since I had thought about the day when Hannah died. I mostly thought about the dream I had been having lately. But now I couldn't help but think about her, and it was easier to think when no one was there with me. 

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice when someone climbed up in the tree. I only realized someone had when they sat down next to me. I looked over at them and saw that it was Eric. He was staring straight ahead at the trees around us. I quickly and angrily looked away and was about to get up when he put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said.

I gritted my teeth and didn't say anything. How could he expect me to accept his apology after all he had done to me?

"Listen, Lane, I know I've been a jerk lately (I scoffed here, but he ignored it). I don't have an excuse for blaming you about Hannah but I do –"

"Of course you don't," I said angrily, still gritting my teeth. "You never even asked me about what happened. I shouldn't have talked about it right away, and I didn't, but I needed to later on but you … instead of comforting me you shunned me."

"Lane, I'm really sorry and I do have a re-"

"You won't even ask me about it now!" I yelled. My voice echoed around the trees and all fell silent.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Eric whispered.

I sigh and looked down at my hands. I felt tears begin to prick at my eyes and I sniffed.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "You don't have to if you don't want-"

"How did you get out of that bathroom?"

"I sliced open a Raptor with my pocket knife, the others attacked it, I dropped my knife in the process of scrambling out of the hole in the ceiling, and I ran away," he said, simply.

"Oh…." A silence fell again. I felt a few tears run down my face.

"I was so scared, Eric! I was afraid that they got you! I couldn't believe it when you showed up." I sniffed. "It was all I could do not to turn around and run to save you. It took everything I had to keep following… Hannah."

I sniffed again. "We climbed a tree just to make sure we were out of the way of danger. And then the Spinosaurus came. We were about half way up. He began banging it with his head and I fell on the ground. I heard Hannah scream so I looked up and she was climbing up the tree while the dinosaur butted it with his head. She kept screaming out for someone… for me to help her. But I couldn't do a thing. I felt so helpless!"

I continued to talk and Eric continued to listen. With each passing minute, my throat seemed to get tighter and tighter. I was trying so hard not to cry, but tears kept falling down my face.

"I didn't watch. I couldn't watch. I saw it pick her up and then I turned around… it was the loudest crunch ever," I sobbed. "I just sat there. I couldn't move; couldn't turn around; couldn't do anything. I just felt numb all over and it felt as though my head was swimming. When I finally could turn around and look at the tree Hannah had been sitting in only moments before, there was no Hannah sitting there. There was nothing. Hannah had died. One of my best friends in the whole world was dead; she was gone, never coming back. I couldn't stand it. It hurt so bad that I thought I would explode."

I was now crying heavily and couldn't hold it back. I hadn't noticed it while I was talking, but Eric was hugging me, and I was hugging back; my face was buried in his chest and his shirt was soaked from my tears. I sniffed and pulled away, then sighed and looked out at the trees.

"We better head back," I said finally.

The rest of the day went rather oddly. Eric was no longer snapping at me, and he didn't really talk about what had gone on between us, but he wasn't really nice, either. He didn't really talk at all. Not to me … not to anyone. Which made it to be a rather boring day. If you can call a day on Isla Sorna a boring day. Actually, it was more of a boring afternoon after being attacked by a Raptor, blowing up at Eric, and crying hysterically on his shoulder. So, if you could call that a boring day in all, you're crazy. What I'm saying is _after_ all that happened, it was boring. But I would rather it be boring than full of adventure. Adventure's just too plain scary.

* * *

_I was running through the forest, a dense fog pressing in on all sides. The foliage was so thick I could hardly squeeze my way through it. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I knew that I had to keep going. The fog seemed to get thicker and thicker as I ran until I could hardly see my hand even if I waved it two inches away from my nose. Panting heavily, I stopped in my tracks and cried out, "Help! Someone! Anyone! Help!"_

_But a booming ahead of me silenced my cries and I stood, rooted to the spot. Something was coming through the mist. And it was a large something. A huge, dark form walking slowly towards me. The thing stopped, then let out a long roar. It was a Tyrannosaurus. I let out a whimper and turned and began running. Though I couldn't really see it through the mist, I could tell I was running through foliage. The booming sound of the Tyrannosaurus' gait was following behind me._

I forced my eyes open. My breathing was coming in deep gasps and my body was covered in sweat. I had slept in my teardrop room again. I sat up and leaned against the branches. Why did I keep having that dream? It wasn't that long, but it kept happening, over and over and over again. It reminded me of the dream Scarlet O'Hara (from "Gone With The Wind") kept having where she was running through the fog but couldn't find anything and didn't know where she was going. She just wanted to get out of the fog. At the end of the book, she actually ran through the fog from her dream. Maybe my dream would come true. I sure hoped not.

Deciding to stretch my cramping legs, I climbed out of my room and into the Living Room (see! Now doesn't that sound better than the big room or some cruddy thing like that?). I was surprised to see that Eric was still awake. Even though it was really dark, I could tell that he looked up when I climbed out of the hole. "What are you doing awake?" he asked.

"You try sleeping in there all night long," I said jokingly. Eric let out a soft laugh. I sighed and sank down to the floor, resting my back on the branches and stretching my legs out in front of me.

It was silent for a few minutes, but then Eric said, "Did you have the nightmare again?"

I sighed, then nodded. Eric walked over, paused, then sat down next to me. "What's it about?" he asked.

-----------Flashback-----------

_I woke up with a start. It had been the same dream as before, only it had gone on just a bit longer. I had been having this dream what seemed like every night for about a month. But I had always woken up as I began crying for help. Why was the same dream haunting me?_

_I looked around the water truck and saw that it was day. The hatch was open and sunlight was pouring into the musty room. I sat up and looked around. Neither Eric, nor Brad was in side. They wouldn't leave me here alone, would they? I could have been attacked while I was sleeping! What jerks! I thought fiercely. How could they been so inconsiderate? _

_I stood up, stuffed the blankets on a shelf furiously, and pulled myself out of the hatch. I looked around and saw Brad and Eric sitting on top of the truck, gazing up at the trees. "What the heck are you two doing?" I whispered harshly. _

_"There's the sleepy head," Brad teased, grinning down at me. "Have a nice sleep? Nice dreams?"_

_I glared at him and went back down into the water truck. What the heck did they think they were doing? Sitting out in the open like that. Any dinosaur could come along and pluck them right up; not that I cared at the moment. It would almost be a relief to get Eric away and I had never really liked Brad. I heard Eric begin to talk and so I stopped to listen._

_"She's been having these dreams lately," Eric explained to Brad. "I just let her sleep."_

_"What are the dreams about?" Brad asked._

_"I don't know," Eric said._

_"Why not?" Brad questioned._

_"What do you mean, why not?" Eric asked._

_"Well … you like her, don't you?" Brad asked._

Wow; that was unexpected. There was a pause and then Eric said, "I think I'm gonna go down and look at our stock of food. We might need more now that you're here."

-----------End Flashback-----------

I was surprised by his question. Why would Eric care about my dream? None-the-less, I told him all about it, then my thoughts about how it related to Scarlet O'Hara's dreams. I didn't really expect Eric to have the answers, but I told him anyways. "So what if my dream comes true? Why have I been having it so often?"

"SHUSH!"

I looked over and saw that Sally was awake and was sitting up.

"I'm trying to sleep, here!" she whispered fiercely.

Eric and I nodded. He looked over at me, shrugged, then got up and walked over to where he had been before. I leaned my head back on the branches and within minutes, I was asleep.

* * *

**Arch of Wand **Hey, I'm not no one. That's my sister. I'm nobody, thank you very much. Oh my word, that was such a corny line. I hated that part in the movie, it was SO corny! 

**The Elfin Child **Return to Oz IS a dumb movie. It's so funny. The little girl was cute, though. She reminds me of you when you were little …AAAHH! YOU SHOVED ERIC OUT THE WINDOW! HOW DARE YOU! You'll pay, you shall.

**Moonlights Sundance **I'm glad that my story was good enough to take an hour out of your life! Oh, you're too nice. It's not that great … is it? Ok, so … maybe it is. Thanks! I LIKE BEING TALENTED! Can I be talented more often?

**Kellyerielf **Well I'm glad you decided to review! The more the merrier! I like your review. It's so nice! Makes me feel so special. I was proud of Lane, too!

**Nogard **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! -runs and hides in the closet-

**Shooting Starlight **Hehehe – yeah. Good chapter. Thanks!

**Emery flutterby **That IS wrong!

**Libby **Ah, ok. I know Eric's kind of out of character … from what he was in the movies. Let me explain this … without giving anything away. They didn't go too in depth about Eric in the movies (and let's face it, books are much better at doing that than movies are), so you can kind of make up a personality for him. In the third movie, he had been on the island ALONE for 8 weeks, was 14, was excited about finding his parents and that they weren't fighting, and was scared about the dinosaurs. In my story, he's not been alone … I don't want to give this away. Ummm … Even though most everyone has found it out by now. Hopefully you'll understand it better when Lane does, because at this point, she doesn't understand it either. Oh yeah! We don't know anything, really, about his life before he got landed on the island, so I made that up too.


	26. Two Discoveries

**Author's Note: **I am probably the most sorry person on the planet this second right _here_! You cannot _believe_ how badly I had writer's block. I would sit down and look at the computer screen for half an hour and not come up with a single thing to write about, which is why you're lucky I got this out in September instead of October. But, I sat down and wrote this in _one_ day! Yay for me!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-six - Two Discoveries**

I readjusted my quiver of arrows on my shoulder and wiped a bit of sweat off my forehead. I was off in a search for food. We couldn't eat the beans any more. It wasn't the fact that they were beyond gross and Sally seemed to throw them up every single time she ate them. But it was the fact that we were out of them and Raptors had gotten into the storage room they were kept in, which was in the compound.

When Eric and I had entered the now open room that morning, the cans that hadn't been carried away were bitten into and spilling their contents over the ripped up boxes and knocked over shelves. Since my arrows were the only weapons we had, I was out hunting. Hey, I was the only one who could shoot straight.

Eric was hunting as well, only he was using the sharp scraps of metal we'd found in the compound, thanks to the Raptors. But his prey was Compies. I was looking for something bigger to kill. Luckily (it sounds strange saying that), Sally was accompanying me. Even though we didn't talk as we walked, she was nice company to have around, which is extremely scary to think about.

I switched my quiver over to my other shoulder. We had been out all day long. If I didn't get anything, we were probably going to starve that night. Just getting one large thing would last us for a while. Eric had said that if we got something, I could stay by it to ward off any other animals that tried to eat it (and tried to clean up the blood) while Sally went to get him and Brad so we could carry it back to the tree.

"I still don't see how this is going to work," Sally hissed as I stepped over a root and she followed.

I shrugged my shoulders and kept walking.

BEEP!

I whirled around, an arrow in my bow in the blink of an eye. "What was that?" I asked.

"My watch," Sally said, pulling it out of her pocket.

I dropped my bow and ran to her side, yanking it out of her hands. I held the cold, scratched surface to my ear and heard the all so familiar tick. I sighed contentedly. "Proof that we actually did have a life before," I muttered.

"Yeah, right," Sally said. "Can I have it back now? I kind of don't want to lose it. I'm _so_ going back to the hot springs when that time of month comes again."

I looked up at her. "What?"

"You know…" She said, a pink tinge creeping into her cheeks. I still looked at her quizzically. "It has the date on it…"

"OH!" I said. I looked back down at the watch and saw that it did have the date on it. July 29th.

My breath caught in my throat. July 29th. Today was Tina's sixteenth birthday. I stood stock still, staring mutely at the watch as tears gathered in my eyes. I watched the second hand tick around until my eyes were so full of tears, I couldn't see through their swimming masses. Tina was sixteen today. Was she even alive?

"Lane, can I have my watch back," Sally asked. "We kind of need to get moving. I don't think Eric will be very happy if we come back empty handed."

I nodded wiped my eyes, took one last look at the date and the time (noon), and handed the watch back to its owner. "Let's head back," I choked out. "I need something to eat or I'm going to pass out."

"Maybe you can eat some leaves," Sally said sarcastically, not noticing my tear stained face or my sorrow filled words.

I turned and began walking through the trees. "Hey, your bow!" Sally called after me. I paid no attention but kept heading in the direction of our tree. By the time I had reached it, my eyes had cleared and I was thinking more sensibly. I could hear Sally crashing through the bushes behind me, wishing she would be quieter.

As I neared the tree, Eric came through some rhododendrons on the other side with a handful of dead Compies. Brad followed with two more hands full.

"Got a whole bunch of 'em," Brad said when he saw us.

Eric grinned but this was quickly reversed into a concerned frown. "Lane, what's wrong?" He asked, taking a step towards me.

Not wanting to start crying again and _not_ wanting those stinking animals near me, I took a step back (as if that would solve anything) and said without emotion, "July 29th."

"What?" Brad asked, looking from me to Eric and back again.

But Eric seemed to understand. His face filled with more concern and he said, "Sweet sixteen."

I nodded and headed over to the trunk of the tree where I sat down on a root and rested my head in my hands. I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to cry …

Eric handed his load to Sally (who wasn't pleased but she didn't complain and followed Brad up the tree) and sat down next to me. "You okay?" He asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I breathed in deeply and let the air out slowly. "Yeah," I said.

"Look, do you want to go to the hot springs?" He asked. "I don't know what it is with girls and getting clean, but it seems to cheer them up."

I looked over at him and smirked. "How do you get clean and ice cream mixed up?" I teased.

Eric grinned a lopsided grin. "Come on; I'll walk you there."

I shook my head. "Need to eat."

He nodded. "After lunch, then."

Nodding in agreement, I followed him up the tree for a meal of dinosaur sushi.

* * *

Sally and I slowly and silently walked through the trees. The faintest hint of hot springs smell was in the air and for the first time, I was glad to smell it. Maybe sitting in a rustic style Jacuzzi tub would do me good. 

"_I don't know how sitting in boiling water is supposed to feel good," _Sally had said when I asked her to come along so that the guys could skin their catch. But she had come along anyways.

The smell began to get stronger and stronger until it was to the point where I wanted to stop and hurl. But once I got under the water, I wouldn't smell it. Because if I smelled anything under water, I would drown.

"There it is," Sally whispered.

I looked up and sure enough, there was the large, odd looking lava rock, sitting in the middle of a ton of decaying trees.

We walked around to the entrance and pushed the vines (with the leaves as big as my torso) aside and walked in. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a slender figure crouched by the waters edge. The person looked up. Even though her cheeks were hollow and smeared with mud, and her eyes were big and scared looking, I could have recognized that face anywhere.

"TINA!" I yelled.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Justto let you know, I'll be writing a sequel, which will probably be called Return to Jurassic: Annihilate 23. I'm excited about it.

* * *

**Arch of Wand **Yeah, I like "go sniff a cactus too". If you'll notice, my sister used it in _her_ chapter and forgot to give _me_ the credit! Because I did come up with it, you know. I did! I have the proof! I was on the IM with my friend and was _really_ hyper and she said something … that I forget and I said, "Oh, go… sniff a cactus." And that's how it went. –nods- 

**Emery flutteryby **Jerk-boy … hehehe.

**Moonlights Sundance **Yay! Look it, look it! I GOT A COOKIE! … What kind? -looks at M.S. suspiciously-

**Kellyerielf **YAY! Finally someone who _understands_ why their relationship wasn't mended right at once! I'll make you a berry pie, I will … -runs off to make a pie then runs back- Oops … let me just … write this chapter first. (**Author's Note: **When this story was first posted, my replies to the review were posted at the beginning of a chapter, but for the convenience of the reader, I decided to move them to the end)

**Mia **Umm … ok. The teacher, Mr. Polycarp (I think. I can't be bothered to check at the moment), signed some sort of form that said that no matter what happens, the government doesn't have to do anything. If you'll remember from the third movie, the Kirby's couldn't get the government to help them either. So Hammond is having to do everything himself. Did that answer your question?

**Rhapsody-child-of-the-sky **That's a LOOOOOOONG name. Hehehe – Anyways, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for adding me to your favorites list. –grins- I feel special. And I'm glad that you liked my story, just don't … starve yourself, okay?

**Serenawrosnki **I completely understand because Lane and her friends annoy me as well. But please keep reading! Remember, you're only at chapter 8 and a lot of things can happen between then and now. Of course, you might not even read this far, but I hope you do!


	27. Friendship Reborn

**Chapter Twenty-Seven - Friendship Reborn**

_We walked around to the entrance and pushed the vines (with the leaves as big as my torso) aside and walked in. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a slender figure crouched by the waters edge. The person looked up. Even though her cheeks were hollow and smeared with mud, and her eyes were big and scared looking, I could have recognized that face anywhere._

_"TINA!" I yelled._

Before Tina could recognize who I was, I flung myself on her, rapping my arms tightly around her now boney body. I pulled away and looked into her deep blue eyes. Her once shiny blonde hair was caked with mud and fell down her back in clumps. Her clothes were nearly as loose as Sally's had been when I found her.

A spark of recognition flashed in Tina's eyes and with a rusty grin, she pulled me into a hug. "I thought I'd lost you," she whispered.

"I thought I'd lost you too," I murmured back. "But I always hoped."

We pulled away from each other and smiled. Sally cleared her throat and we both stood up to look at her. "Um …" She said. "Hey … Tina. It's good to see you."

Tina nodded curtly.

"Listen, let's get you back to camp," I began, only Sally interrupted me.

"There's no way we're letting her look like this on her sixteenth birthday!" She exclaimed. She was grinning from ear to ear.

Tina's mouth dropped and she looked back and forth between us. She looked rather freaky – kind of like a fish – so I reached over and shut her mouth.

"Come on," I said. "This water feels great."

We all lined up on the side of the water, held hands, and jumped in at the same time. We came up laughing and coughing. We pealed our wet clothes off, scrubbed the white and blue fabric as clean as it would come, then put our garments to the side to dry. Afterwards, we spent what felt like hours cleaning Tina's hair out. By the time we were finished, we decided there wasn't any time left for relaxing, so we climbed out of the water, pushed the water off ourselves, and slipped our damp clothing back on.

The walk back to the tree seemed longer than ever. I kept glancing over at Tina, just to make sure she was really there. Her hair seemed much longer than it had been. It was now down to her shoulders when it had been right at her chin. As we walked, her hair dried out, and though it wasn't as shiny, it was its usual blonde color again.

Sally went on ahead to tell Eric and Brad that we were coming. Because we were still on the floor of the forest and well away from the springs, Tina and I refrained from talking, although I wanted to very much.

Tina fell into step beside me and grabbed my hand. I looked over at her and she smiled, making her face look even freakier. I grinned back at her. It was so good to at least have one of my best friends back. And to think I was gaining friends. Brad and Sally seemed to get less and less annoying every day and Sally was beginning to get easy to talk to. I hoped that things wouldn't change now that Tina was back. But I would have rather had her back than a thousand Sally's. She was my last remaining best friend, and I loved her like the sister I never had.

We walked through a few bushes, but stopped dead in our tracks. There, just ten feet away, was a Raptor, bending over something.

Tina and I slowly backed up and silently hid ourselves in the bushes. I peered out, wanting to see what the Velociraptor was eating. Blood seemed to be everywhere, but I could see no signs of a struggle. The animal must have attacked without warning. I strained a little farther. The mangled body of the victim was torn open and the Raptor was feasting on the intestines. I could see two legs, two arms, a head … and blood stained blue fabric. I had no doubt who this Raptor's afternoon meal was. It was Sally.

* * *

I climbed up the tree with Tina closely in tow. I ran words over and over in my head, trying to come up with a way to tell Brad what had happened. But I couldn't. How could you explain to someone that their loved one had just died? Being eaten by a Raptor was certainly not painless and she had lasted so long. I wanted to hit myself for allowing her to go on ahead. 

I reached the top of the tree and pulled myself over. I helped Tina, then walked through the branches into the living room.

Brad looked up as we entered and Eric stood up to greet us. He stopped when he saw Tina was with me. "Tina?" He asked. It didn't seem as though he believed what he was seeing, just as I hadn't.

Tina nodded roughly but didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if this was because of Sally's death (she hadn't had time to get close to her as I had) or because of her resentment towards him.

I looked past Eric at Brad, who had stood and was smiling at Tina. Did he not notice that his girlfriend wasn't with us?

He finally looked beyond us into the passage, then back to my face. His smile was no longer there. "Where's Sally?" he asked.

Tina shifted from one foot to the other and I looked down at my worn out sneakers. "She's dead," I whispered. I hadn't intended to say it so bluntly or suddenly, but it had just popped out.

A rush of tears I hadn't known were there suddenly came rushing down my cheeks and I looked up at Brad, who looked deathly pale. "We saw her," I said. I didn't feel choked up, but the tears continued to flow freely, dripping off my chin and onto my damp clothing. "She went ahead to tell you guys we were coming. We found a … Raptor … it was eating her."

Brad's face didn't change, but looked white and stony. Without a word, he brushed past us and disappeared into the passage. I looked over at Eric. He was already looking at me. He looked shocked, but not nearly as much as Brad had.

"Should we go after him?" Tina asked.

Eric shook his head. "He needs some time to be alone."

There was a long pause of silence before he said, "Do you guys want something to eat? Sorry we don't have anything better for your birthday, Tina, but dino-sushi will have to do."

Tina grinned and took a long, thin piece of Compy from Eric. I silently took one of my own. "I love sushi," I said quietly.

Tina nodded and began eating ravenously. "I haven't eaten in days!" she said once she had swallowed the last bit. I gave her the rest of mine and she seemed to swallow it whole.

"Now," she said, rubbing her hands together and sitting down. "Tell your story and I'll tell you mine."

I thought of what I would have to tell Tina. Yet another person to tell about the death of a loved one. I wasn't sure if I could do it. "No, you go first."

"There isn't much to tell," Tina shrugged. "I mean, I've been on this island as long as you have – I was not talking to you, Eric! – so you know just as well as I do what kind of animals live here. I've just been running from them, sleeping in the trees, and coming down only when I found a carcass I could pick clean. I found the hot springs today because I thought it might be food and entered the rock because the stench was coming from inside it." She shrugged again and leaned back against the branches.

"What happened that day we got separated?" I questioned.

Tina scrunched up her face as though she couldn't rightly remember, then her features relaxed. "Ah, yes. We were running and I heard you scream, so I turned to see what had happened. But I tripped over a root or something and fell into a thorny bush. The thorns must have been six inches long! I watched you run away as blood poured down your back from your gash. The Raptors couldn't get to me because of the thorns, and once they were gone, I tried to follow your trail. When it started getting dark, I climbed a tree and remained in the branches most of the past month and a half."

"You girls have a good sense of time," Eric commented. He was still dining on Raptor meat. I smirked at him and looked back at Tina.

"My turn?" I questioned. Tina nodded. I cracked my knuckles and leaned back, making myself comfortable. This was going to take a while.

* * *

**Niniane, Lady of the Lake **You … you poked me! How dare you! I shall mow over your crop of poking sticks, I shall. 

**Captain Oblivious **Yes, yes, yes. We all know you're going to be in the next one, sister dearest. -frowns when she realizes she's in a room with EVILL BRAD but grins when she gets a wonderful idea- I will fix this! -whips out her wand and transforms EVIL BRAD- There we go; he is no longer evil and … well … a completely different person. –grins-

**Moonlights Sundance **Thanks for the cookie! It was very good. Chocolate is nice. -pets the chocolate- My prrrrrrecious.

**Short and proud **You should know me well enough to the extent at which … no, I'm not going to tell you the ending, even if you are 15 and even if you did pass your permit test and EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN SEE OVER THE WHEEL! -composes herself- You'll just have to wait like all the other pretty little reviewers.

**BonitaBella **Ah. They're still developing their relationship! Hehe. I don't want their past quarrels to be mended just like that. But since this story is classified as Drama/Romance, then there's obviously got to be something coming, right?

**Libby **Yeah, I agree with the coincidental meeting thing. But it's just ever so much more fun this way. And I want Lane to have some happiness; things have been so gloomy for her.


	28. Dreams

**Chapter Twenty-Eight - Dreams**

_I was running through the forest, a dense fog pressing in on all sides. The foliage was so thick I could hardly squeeze my way through it. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I knew that I had to keep going. The fog seemed to get thicker and thicker as I ran until I could hardly see my hand even if I waved it two inches away from my nose. Panting heavily, I stopped in my tracks and cried out, "Help! Someone! Anyone! Help!"_

_But a booming ahead of me silenced my cries and I stood, rooted to the spot. Something was coming through the mist. And it was a large something. A huge, dark form walking slowly towards me. The thing stopped, then let out a long roar. It was a Tyrannosaurus. I let out a whimper and turned and began running. Though I couldn't really see it through the mist, I could tell I was running through thick foliage. The booming sound of the Tyrannosaurus' gait was following behind me._

I sat up straight and looked around the living room. Tina was sleeping next to me and I painfully remembered the long hours of crying that had been conducted earlier. Hannah was gone, and Tina had just found out.

A few feet away from me, Eric slept. He had gone in search of Brad when I reached the part of my story about our quarrels. He returned without our friend, but I knew that all Brad Kim needed was some time to be alone. If he wanted to talk, then he would come back to us and we could pursue it.

I lay back down on the hard, smooth bark and pulled the thin blanket up to my chin. The dream didn't scare me nearly as much since I had talked through it with Eric, but it still sent unpleasant and unwelcome shivers up and down my spine.

I wasn't sure when my thoughts turned to dreams, but the next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes to welcome a knew day; a new day with my best friend and potential crush. Wait a minute! Potential crush? Where on earth did that come from? I thought.

**

* * *

**

Candy Saunters sat in the waiting room and played with her curly red hair. Rap it around the finger, untwist. Rap it around the finger, untwist. It was an absent-minded habit of hers that she did when she was nervous, and right now she was extremely nervous. Just three more hours until they boarded the helicopter to fly over to Isla Sorna where they would circle the island and fly low over the area around the compound. Mr. Hammond had rented the craft for only one day, and they wouldn't be able to return to the island after their first trip. Candy was hoping that there would be many survivors, but if there were too many, they wouldn't be able to fit them all aboard, and leaving people behind was not a pleasant idea.

Thus, rap it around the finger, untwist. Rap it around the finger, untwist.

Mr. Hammond came hobbling out of the hotel manager's office and shut the door behind himself. Candy stood and rushed over to the old man.

"Well?" she asked. "What did he say?"

"He said that Mr. Polycarp and twenty-five students, plus a pilot and copilot by the names of Jeff Corner and Hutch Merson, boarded a plane over a month and a half ago to fly over to one of the neighboring islands," Mr. Hammond said. "Only by listening to Mr. Polycarp's announcement to the students did he know they were, indeed, headed to Isla Sorna. He tried to dissuade Mr. Polycarp, but the teacher would hear none of it. According to Mr. Johnson, the manager, two students, a boy and a girl, stood and tried to talk Mr. Polycarp out of the trip, but neither succeeded. I'm afraid that's all he knows."

"Has no one returned from the island since then?" Candy questioned hopefully.

"A cruise ship that passes near the island picked up a dead body that's neck had been broken. The girl was identified as Cassy Torch. Do you recognize the name?"

"Yes," Candy said, swallowing the knot in her throat. "She was a friend of Sally Grude and Kimmy Flort."

Mr. Hammond nodded. "I thought it might be one of ours. I'm going to go prepare the helicopter. You'd best go get ready yourself."

Candy nodded and turned to silently walk towards the elevators. 24 more children to look for, one family to pray for. How would these numbers change by the end of the day?

**

* * *

**

Brad still hadn't returned an hour later, so Eric went in search of him. I was hoping he hadn't gone and done anything stupid. He had much more to live for … so much potential! He couldn't let it all go to waste over the death of a girlfriend, even though she was pretty nice … when she wanted to be.

I sighed and raked through my hair, using my fingers as a makeshift comb. I pulled a strand of dark red hair towards my face, but saw that it looked much lighter than I thought it would. The sun had been lightening it, but it still looked like a nice color of natural red.

I tucked it behind my ears and stood up. My hair tie seemed to have disappeared a while ago.

Tina was sitting higher up in the tree Eric had told us to wait in earlier. She hadn't talked much this morning. The loss of Hannah was probably still with her. But she hadn't cried any more than she had the night before. I wished I could say something to her to make her feel better, but I couldn't think of anything, so I climbed up to sit beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

Tina shook her head no, so I looked out at the trees around us. Everything looked so old, as though the island itself was decaying. We always had to be choosy about the trees to climb, because if we chose a weak one, the branches would collapse right under our feet.

I suddenly saw someone coming through the trees. Someone with a blue shirt and white slacks. Eric, I thought. I climbed down from my perch and carefully climbed into the neighboring tree whose branches intertwined with the original one I had been sitting in. Eric had sat down on a branch and was looking out at the trees. I weaved my way over to him and sat down by his side.

"No luck?" I questioned.

Eric shook his head. "No," He said. "Now all we can do is hope."

"And pray," I added.

"Yeah, that too," he agreed. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and leaned against the trunk of the tree. A few seconds later he sat up and leaned over his knees, resting his head in his hands. But after only another few seconds in this position, he sat up and looked at me.

"Lane …" he said. But he shook his head and looked away, as though he didn't want to say what he was planning on saying.

"What?" I asked. He didn't reply, so I grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze. He looked down at our hands, at our interlocked fingers, then looked up at me.

"You can tell me anything, Eric," I said softly. Even though I was still a little angry with his past actions, I wanted to be his friend. If he couldn't trust me, especially on this island, we weren't going to get very far in a friendship.

He looked away and at first I thought he wasn't going to say anything, but then he started talking. "Lane … Do you want to know why I was such a jerk? I mean, the real reason?"

I sat up a little straighter and I felt a little anger boil within me, but I tried to keep my cool. "Sure."

"Well … I was scared. For you … for me … I was just scared. I was afraid … I was getting too attached to you and I knew that if I lost you then it would be too painful to bear. And if you returned my feelings, if you lost me, then it would be too painful for you. That day Hannah died? I almost kissed you; I swear I did. But I knew that you were in pain, so I held back. Then … I thought that if I was a jerk, I could make you hate me so that you wouldn't hurt if I died. But I also tried to pretty much talk my way out of liking you by accusing you of things and getting mad at you all the time.

"But you know … it never worked? I was concentrating so much on trying not to like you; I was making myself like you even more. But that day, when you said you hated me … I realized my plan had worked, but only half way. I liked you so much that seeing my plan unfold and hearing those word's I'd wanted to hear for a long time suddenly made me realize how much pain I had put you through and how much I didn't want you to hate me and how much … I … loved you."

I pulled my hand out of his and brought both of my hands up to my face.

"I didn't want to hurt you, Lane," Eric said. "I wanted to save you pain. But then I realized that instead of saving you from it, I placed you in it. And on purpose, too. I'm really sorry. I truly am."

I placed a hand on his shoulder and felt a couple tears run down my face. He had done all that … for me?

But he was still a jerk for doing it!

An incredibly sweet jerk.

Eric looked up at me and I saw that he was crying too. My heart broke at the sight of him. Eric couldn't cry. Eric never cried! He wasn't allowed to cry!

"Eric…" I started to say. But I was cut off when Eric leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the lips.

When he pulled back, tears were running so freely down my face that I could hardly see him. I felt like laughing, I was so happy.

But I was so mad! How could he think that he was saving me any pain?

But he did say he was sorry. And he really sounded like he was.

I gave him a small smile. He smiled back, and leaned in to kiss me again. I kissed back freely.

_Wait; this is all wrong!_ I thought. _How can I be doing this? No, I can't do this. Not here; not now. No. Lane, stop it!_

I pulled out of the kiss. "I … I …" I couldn't think of anything to say.

Eric looked at me questioningly. "Are you ok?" He asked. He reached for my hand, but I pulled back.

I stood up and climbed down the tree as quickly as I could. Eric called after me, but I hardly heard him. What had I done? This was such a horrible place to be developing a relationship. Something was bound to go wrong. I didn't believe in things being jinxed, but this sure had 'jinxed' written all over it.

Eric's reasons for being a jerk were somewhat reasonable. I still didn't think it was right, but it still seemed reasonable.

_HOW could I be so STUPID!_ I thought, willing my mouth to move so that I could yell out loud. But it was still clamped shut and still a bit moist from the kiss. I quickly brought my hand up and wiped my lips. No, I wasn't going to think about it. It had been an incredibly stupid thing to do. There was no way I could get anything out of it. It was a mistake.

_But he said he loves me! How could such a kiss be a mistake if he loves me? … Do I love him?_ I wasn't so sure of anything at the moment. I had just received my first kiss and I didn't think that I deserved it.

I heard Eric calling after me and I felt him grab my arm. I shook him off and began running. I needed to get away. I needed to be alone. I couldn't talk about this now. My head was spinning and my world felt upside-down. I ran blindly through a field. The long grasses reached up and slashed at my legs, trying to bring me down; but I was so numb I couldn't feel anything; I couldn't hear anything. All I could do was see. My thoughts weren't even making sense any more. Nor did I know where I was … or really how I had gotten there.

A sudden feeling of panic overtook me and I began blindly running through the forest, searching for a way out or something I recognized. The hot springs, the compound, the water truck, our tree … anything!

I don't remember that bush! I thought. My panic grew as I fled deeper into the forest, not knowing which way to turn.

Before I knew it, I was running through the forest, a dense fog pressing in on all sides. The foliage was so thick I could hardly squeeze my way through it. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I knew that I had to keep going. The fog seemed to get thicker and thicker as I ran until I could hardly see my hand even if I waved it two inches away from my nose. Panting heavily, I stopped in my tracks and cried out, "Help! Someone! Anyone! Help!"

But a booming ahead of me silenced my cries and I stood, rooted to the spot. Something was coming through the mist. And it was a large something. A huge, dark form walking slowly towards me. The thing stopped, then let out a long roar. It was a Tyrannosaurus. I let out a whimper and turned and began running. Though I couldn't really see it through the mist, I could tell I was running through thick foliage. The booming sound of the Tyrannosaurus' gait was following behind me.

My dream had finally come true.

**

* * *

**

**Captain Oblivious **-sits down on a tree stump to watch the cat fight between C.O. and the Raptor- This would make a GREAT book! -whips out a laptop from no where and starts to type- MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

**Short and proud **If you like sappy stuff so much, then you're going to LOVE this chapter … maybe … hopefully … WAAAAH! -sniffle- Ok, YOU have no idea where that came from, but _I_ do. Special me. Hehe.

**Niniane, Lady of the Lake **-grabs her pointy-stick-detector- I will find your sticks if it's the last thing I do! -sets out on a quest to find Niniane's pointy sticks-

**BonitaBella **You are SO funny! Oh my word. Do you know what it's like to kill off your own characters that you've created and spent a LOT of time putting their personalities together? FUN! Just kidding. No, it's actually quite hard. But EVER so easy. My mind scares me sometimes. Honestly.

**Beautyqueen321 **Well, is this a fast enough update? I sure hope so. Is it a … CHOCOLATE cupcake? Hehe – YEY! -does a dance for the cupcake- Sugar is GOOOOOOOD … no?


	29. Never Again

**Author's Note: **Give a shout out for the last chapter! NOOO! I don't want it to end! NO, NO, NO! But, just as a side note, today, if anyone happened to notice, is October 16, 2003 (or at least it was the day I posted this), which means that it's the one year anniversary for the original post date! And _that_, in simpler words, means that I've had this baby up on the web for a whole year! So, yeah; that's my reason for posting the last few chapters so close together.

Okay, first off, I want to thank every single one of my reviewers (I would write your names down only then I would have to update every time someone new reviewed!) But I also want to thank my sister. You … I swear, if you hadn't taken an interest in my story I probably wouldn't have made it this far. I would dedicate this chapter to you, but … I don't think you _want_ this chapter dedicated to you.

I also want to thank all of my friends for their love and support (and nagging, Roo!). Honestly, every single person who reads this story is my friend!

Then I would like to thank my betas, Angelpiano88 and Emery flutterby. You girls are the best and I want to thank you for all of the hard work you put into my chapters and how quickly you responded! Even if I didn't agree with and/or use (or _understand_) all of your suggestions, I appreciated every single one of them. You were so devoted and helped me so much with everything. If I got in a rut, you would pull me out by giving me suggestions on what to do next. I love you guys!

My parents, of course, I would like to thank. For one thing, I need a computer to write this on, and… well … they're my parents! You've gotta love them!

And of course, there's Michael Crichton (who wrote the original Jurassic Park) and Steven Spielberg, who together brought JP to the big screens … and to life!

But let's not forget Trevor Morgan who did an absolute fabulous job portraying the character of Eric Kirby.

Sorry if I left anyone out. I tried not to! I really did! I just wanted to put this at the beginning because … well … you'll see.

**Autumn Darkness**

**P.S.** _The poem at the end is mine. Please don't use it without my permission and DON'T read it yet! Read the _whole_ chapter before you get there! No skimming, people! And as a note, I meant to make this chapter longer, but it didn't work out that way. Sorry about that!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-nine- Never Again**

Candy looked out the window of the helicopter, looking intently through the trees and willing herself to see some trace of survivors. They had been flying for at least two hours, searching, but not finding. Would they even find anyone?

They flew over a small clearing covered in thick, tall grasses. Candy practically did a double take when she saw a girl … a red head jogging through the field. "THERE! OVER THERE!" She yelled at the pilot.

He turned the craft around but it didn't seem that the girl noticed they were even there. She just kept on going.

Candy noticed a boy running behind her. He himself did a double take when he saw the helicopter. Taking a second off his chase of the girl, he ran up to the flying machine. Candy pulled the door open for him. "THERE'S A TREE BACK THERE!" He yelled. He gave them slight directions to the location of a tree where they would find another person who had survived. "I'LL GO GET LANE, YOU GET TINA. OK!"

Candy nodded to show that she understood. As soon as the boy saw this, he took off after the girl … Lane, again.

"Let's go," Candy said. She didn't even have enough time to shut the door before they were off and searching for Tina.

_

* * *

_

I ran and I ran, hoping to put some distance between the beast and myself…

I skidded to a halt. _Wait, why am I running? _I thought. _It's a TYRANOSAURUS! They can't see you if you stand still! _

But a sense of panic washed over me just as fast. The T-Rex knew where I had stopped and that I was probably still there. I couldn't hear it running anymore. But instead, I could hear a steady breathing coming from right behind me, as though it was trying to sniff me out. I stood as still as I possibly could.

The dinosaur suddenly let out an ear-splitting, earth-quaking roar and it was all I could do to not fall over from the blast of sound coming from right behind me. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for it to end. Surely it would end.

A drip of sweat ran down my back, making my body shiver.

I suddenly felt a searing pain all through my body. The pain was so intense; it felt as though my body was being ripped in two. I couldn't feel my legs; I couldn't feel anything besides pain. I couldn't tell if I was screaming or if it was just a ringing in my ears. My head shook about, and then I was falling, falling. I hit something hard and couldn't move. My legs, why couldn't I feel my legs? Why couldn't I move? Why did it hurt so badly!

The forest looked so blurry. _Why can't I see right? _I thought.

I saw something blue running towards me, then felt it grab me and hold me. I couldn't tell if I was still screaming or if it was words coming out of my mouth. All I knew was that it hurt worse than anything I had ever felt before.

Things began to get fuzzier, and darker, darker, darker, until my world was swallowed up with the darkness. Suffocating darkness that wouldn't go away. I tried to get out; even the faint words of, "Lane! Lane, it's going to be ok. You're … you're going to be fine … I love you too, Lane. Lane, come back! Don't do this to me! Please, Lane!" weren't enough to pull me out. It closed in, farther, and farther …

_

* * *

_

After directing the helicopter to where Tina was, I ran after Lane, following the sounds of her running footsteps. The fog was so thick, I couldn't see anything. "Lane!" I yelled, brushing past a damp fern and continuing to run after her. "LANE!" I yelled more desperately. Why was she running? What was she afraid of? Had I been wrong to kiss her?

A sudden roar came from up above. _Tyrannosaurus, _I thought.

I faintly saw something running through the mist. _Lane! _I thought. But I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the huge form sprinting after her; or as best a dinosaur of that size could sprint in the tightly packed trees.

"LANE, DON'T RUN!" I yelled as I charged after her. What the heck was she doing? Hadn't I taught her enough about dinosaurs for her to know that running away was not a smart thing to do?

I stumbled over a root, but caught myself before I hit the ground. Where was she? Where had she gone? I couldn't hear the T-Rex running any more.

Pushing through a few low hanging branches, I skidded to a halt. There, standing in the middle of a small clearing, was Lane. But she wasn't alone. The T-Rex was poised right behind her, trying to sniff her out. Lane was standing as still as a statue, but I could see her breathing heavily. "Lane," I whispered.

The dinosaur suddenly let out a long, low, rumbling roar that shook the ground. I grabbed onto some branches so that I wouldn't fall over. Lane's skirt blew around her legs. But she didn't even try to plug her ears. _Good girl – NO! _I thought. Lane had just shivered violently.

In a flash, the Tyrannosaurus was on her. He picked her up in his jaws and shook her around. She screamed out in pain as the dinosaur's teeth went through her middle.

I went numb. _No … NO! _This couldn't happen. No, this wasn't happening!

"LANE!" I yelled. The T-Rex dropped her to the ground where she lay, bleeding.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" I looked over between two trees across the clearing and saw Brad with a big rock above his head. He threw it at the T-Rex's feet to catch its attention, then took off running. The animal didn't pause a second but took off after him, roaring and snapping his jaws.

I hardly noticed any of this. In a flash, I was by Lane's side, holding her in my arms. "Lane!" I said, willing her to say something to me. The wound in her stomach poured blood freely. Her already filthy clothes became more and more red. Her blood dripped onto my skin. I looked into her face and saw tears running swiftly down it. "Eric," she whispered.

I could feel tears prickling at my eyes. No, no, no. This was all wrong. The helicopter was here; it was here to save us!

"Lane," I said. I had to say something. I had to make it better. I could always do that. Lane and I were … we were meant for each other. It couldn't end this way. "It's going to be ok," I said hopelessly, running my hand through her hair and briefly looking at her wound.

I quickly looked away and back at Lane's face. A couple tears rolled off my chin and onto her cheeks. She was so pale.

"You're … you're going to be fine." I choked out. This couldn't be happening. Not to me! Not now! Things weren't supposed to go this way! We … we would get her to the hospital. There had to be something they could do!

"I love you," Lane whispered.

More tears ran down my cheeks. "I love you too, Lane."

Lane's body went limp. "NO!" I screamed. I looked up into the sky. "WHY! PLEASE, GOD; NO!" I looked back at Lane's face. Her eyes were still open, staring into empty space.

I felt something touch my shoulder. I quickly looked around. It was Brad. "Come … come on," he said.

I picked Lane up in my arms. The helicopter had landed only a few feet away and I hadn't even noticed. I rushed inside and lay her down on a stretcher. It didn't even register in my mind that there were other people in the craft. I couldn't hear anything but a ringing in my ears. My whole body felt numb and my mind felt like it was swimming.

Lane's hair was matted with blood. I couldn't bear to look at her eyes; her beautiful green eyes. "No, Lane, no!" I whispered.

"Eric," The woman with curly red hair said. She set Lane's wrist gently on the stretcher. "She doesn't have a pulse. She's … gone."

I looked at the woman, not believing … not _wanting_ to believe what she had just said. Brad was sitting on a seat a bit behind her, holding a crying Tina in his arms while stroking her hair and crying a few tears of his own.

I looked back down at Lane's pale face and her unmoving emerald eyes. I reached over and closed her eyelids. She didn't bring up a hand to stop me; she didn't smirk or smile; she didn't do anything. Not even breath.

"Lane, come back!" I wanted to yell, but instead it came out as a whisper. "Don't do this to me! Please, Lane!"

I couldn't hold it in any more. My head dropped onto the stretcher. Uncontrollable sobs racked my body. She was gone. Lane was gone. She was never coming backLane was gone and she wasn't coming back. I was never going to see her again. Lane was gone.

_

* * *

_

Tina stood up and walked slowly to the microphone. I watched her mutely. I felt choked up. It was all I had felt since … I still remembered the look on Lane's parent's faces when they found out their daughter wasn't coming home.

"Lane," Tina started out. She sniffed, then continued. "Lane was my best friend. I'd known her since … forever … it seems. She was always the one to stick up for me if someone teased me, always the one who … tried to see the good in everyone. I guess I wasn't a very good influence on her." She sniffed again and shuffled her notes. "She's one of those people who you'll never be able to forget, no matter how hard you try. You couldn't help but love her. And, uh …" she kept sniffing and I knew she was going to cry soon … I was too. "I, uh … I'm sorry …"

I stood up and walked over to Tina, who was about to break down. I pulled her into a hug. She squeezed me back. "I just can't believe it, Eric," she whispered.

"I know," I whispered back. I looked over at the coffin, but squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn't let the tears come or I would never be able to stop. "I know," I whispered again.

_Your smile that lit up the night,  
H__as taken flight.  
__No longer shall I see your face;  
__Your face that filled this place.  
__I try to hold on;  
__I try to be strong.  
__But for all that I do,  
__I cannot forget you.  
__For all that I try,  
__I can't help but cry._

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note: **_Thanks to anyone who read my story. I love all you guys. _

_Yours truly,  
_**Autumn Darkness**

**Summary for Return to Jurassic: Annihilate 23- **_Five years later, Eric is still getting over Lane's death when someone calls him, offering him a job concerning Isla Sorna. They offer him a great sum of money and his need of it pushes him to accept. But he didn't know what kind of job he was getting himself into, and what kind of people he would be working with_. **(To be posted on December 5, 2003)**


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